Every website out there will advise you to create a strong password when you’re making an account, and in this Best10VPN guide, you will find a guide that will help you do just that, and in addition, it will give you advice on how to actually remember your password. Alternatively, you could use the password manager, but even if you do, you’ll still have to remember the password for the password manager itself.
The Password Manager Method
The more time we spend on the Internet, the more websites we discover, the more accounts we make, and the more passwords that we have to remember.
The smart way of dealing with this would be to create a different password for each website, and since the number of websites we’re creating accounts for is ever growing, memorizing all of those complicated passwords is basically impossible. That’s why Password managers are created, and as long as you create and remember a password for this application, you’ll never have to worry about any other account ever again.
There are many password managers that are available, but for average internet users, the best option would have to be Dashlane. Dashlane has apps for every platform, it integrates with all the browsers and the use of its basic features is completely free.
It’s also available on multiple devices, but in order to sync them, you’ll have to upgrade it to a premium account. Still, it’s a great choice, and you can always test it on your PC before you decide whether or not you’d like a premium. Many features are available, including password changer, security dashboard, and more. This is probably the easiest way to deal with your password security and we recommend it.
Traditional Password Users
If you’re not interested in using password managers, but instead prefer to remember your passwords or write them down on a piece of paper, we have several suggestions on how to make them strong and hard to breach.
- First of all, a strong password should have at least 12 characters, and even longer ones are always better. The longer the password, the greater the safety.
- Next, you should include both lower-case and capital letters, as well as symbols, numbers. Mix them up, and create a password that’s hard to randomly guess.
- You should avoid using regular, dictionary words, and even combination of dictionary words. Those are easy to guess, and won’t do you much good. Also, using obvious substitutions like replacing O’s with zeros also won’t be enough to protect you.
Basically, what we’re saying is that you should try to mix up everything that you can find on your keyboard, use several symbols, a combination of words that don’t make sense, throw in numbers, and not only at the end of the password but in the middle of the word as well. Creating as random a password as possible is your best bet.
How To Remember Your Password
If you decide to use the tips we gave you, your password should look something like D3a$Gar34=)89h%0, which is a relatively good example, since it has numbers, symbols, big and small letters and a decent number of characters. But, the problem remains, how are you supposed to remember something like that?
It’d take a lot of time to memorize this password perfectly, and if you don’t you’ll never be able to access your account again. That’s why these types of password generators often come as an addition to password managers. But, if you, once again, don’t wish to use them for some reason, then you’ll have to use another trick to remember your passwords.
You could, perhaps, think of a sentence that you’ll be able to remember, and then use the first letter of every word to create a password. That’s a good trick actually, and you can even include numbers and symbols. That way, you can and up with a long and complicated password, and still be able to remember it without having to write it down. Just make sure that you don’t forget the word order.
Diceware Method
There are other methods to create a strong password except for the one we explained above, and one of them include combining several random words into one passphrase. In this case, the randomness of the words that are used is what causes it to be considered strong.
You must remember though, that the words need to be as random as possible. Combinations like “big fat brown bear” will not work, because this makes sense and the combination is not unheard of. On the other hand, a combination like “space sink considered lock” or “cable sea flies book” can be considered random. These phrases make no sense, the words are not in a grammatically correct order, and that’s what makes it hard to guess. And on top of that, it’s easier to remember four words than entire sentences.
Since people aren’t really that good with coming up with random words, there are different tools that you can use. For example, the Diceware website will provide you with a list of numbered words.
You roll the dice, and you’ll choose which words you’ll use according to the number you get once the dice stops rolling. This is bound to create a random combination, and also a great password. Diceware creators have recommended that you use at least six words, because of the ever-advancing technology that makes password-cracking easier pretty much every day.
Endnote
There are other things that you should keep in mind when choosing your password, for example, that you should never use the same one for multiple accounts. If someone cracks it on one account, all of them could be compromised as well.
So, use different passwords, whether in a traditional way or through password manager. Also, avoid going to phishing sites and make sure that your device is free of password-capturing malware. Using a strong password is important, but it’s still only the first step of what you should do if you wish to be safe.
