How to Create Strong Passwords for Online Accounts - Part 1

How to Create Strong Passwords for Online Accounts - Part 1

Whenever you are using any paid/free service online, you need to create account for using that service. When you create your online account, most sites ask you your email id, username and password. If you want to make sure that your account is secure from naive hackers, who uses brute force technique to crack password, you need to create strong password ! In other words, creating strong password for online account is mandatory. In simple words, strong password is defined as a password which cannot be cracked by brute force technique or using trivial heuristics like DOB, first and last name, place of birth, etc.

https://codeclerks.com/forum/attachments/.276/
I hope now you understand what does it mean by a strong password. Let me explain you the importance of creating a strong password. Let us assume you didn't create strong password for your gmail account and you use this account for paypal or send invoice to your client. It has your credit card details or bank details, which are to be kept secret. Now, if a hacker cracks your gmail password then he have access to all your personal stuffs like credit card details, bank details, all clients you interacted or transaction details, etc. Now, hacker can always use your email id for illegal purpose or use it for something EVIL, like buying stuffs through your credit card, changing your internet banking password, etc. !https://codeclerks.com/forum/attachments/.277/
After reading above paragraphs, I hope you understood meaning & importance of having strong password. As I've mentioned this tutorial to be of beginner's level, let me list down few basic points which can make your password strong,

• Password Length: Number of characters in your password has to be at least 8 !
  
• Special Characters: You should use at least one special character (characters which are neither number nor alphabet like %,$, etc.) in your password.
  
• Combination: You password should have combination of numbers and alphabets. You should have combination of upper and lower case letters, as well. For example, using above mentioned points, a strong password could be $heK*83a1https://codeclerks.com/forum/attachments/.275/
  
• Not a Dictionary Word: A password which is a dictionary word can't be a strong password, as it can't be cracked easily by dictionary attack. For example, Champion is not a strong password. It does have combination of upper and lower case letters, but it is a dictionary word !https://codeclerks.com/forum/attachments/.273/
  
• Not your DOB: Never keep password as your date of birth in numeric or word format.
  
• No Firstname or Lastname: You password shouldn't contain your first name or last name in simple word format, if you want your password to be strong.https://codeclerks.com/forum/attachments/.274/
  

If you follow the instructions given in this tutorial, you can always create a strong password. Now, next question in your mind would be, if you create such a complex password how will you remember it, right ? I'll be answering this question with few more tricks to make your password stronger in next installment of this tutorial. ;)