3 Steps to Password Sense

A few months ago there seemed to be a rash of bad online experiences for several people close to me.  PayPal account lockdowns, blog highjacks, stolen identities and the creepy feeling that makes you look over your shoulder…ok, maybe not that last one but once something is stolen from you it only makes sense you spend a short amount of time after that looking over your shoulder, even digitally.

At the time I didn’t know the details of each person’s horrible online experience but I developed a new determination to make sure if something like that happened to me it wasn’t because I was weak in any way!  To me that weakness was my password.  Note I said password – with no S.  As in only one.  I had one password and I used it all the time.  To take it one step farther my entire family used the same password!

Now, I have to give myself a little credit.  It was a great password.  It really made no sense if you looked at it and you didn’t know me.  If you knew a little about me it made sense.  Scarey, huh?

Well not anymore!  I started doing some research about passwords and got some really good ideas.  By combining a couple of sources I think my passwords are awesome now!  Note I said passwords with an S!  Every site I have a password for is different now!

If that thought makes you cringe then maybe you need a new system too!  Just 3 simple steps:

Step 1:  Pick a word.  This word should have NO meaning to you.  I like patterns.  If you are that way too then google for “right handed words” or “left handed words.”  Without much digging you should find something of average length that suites your fancy.

Step 2:  Pick a number.  Any number will do but I suggest sticking to 1 or 2 digits.  Got four dogs?  Use 4.  Dig three wheelers?  Use 3.  Stick your number some where in your word from Step 1.

Step 3:  Pick any number of letters from the website homepage url.  Use the first two letters, the last four letters, etc.  Decide where you want to stick these new letters – front, middle, back, etc.

Hint:  The word and where you split it in Step 1 never changes.  The number and positioning from Step 2 never changes.  The letters you choose in Step 3 will always be different because you are at a different website; however, the position the letters are in will always be the same.

Examples:  I’ll use the word “seaweed.”  I’m going to split the word between the two Es.  The number I like is 1.  I’ll use the www.MyOfficeZilla.com url and I pick the 2nd, 3rd and 4th letters of the url.  My password would be “seamyowe3ed.”  If I was building a password for a google account it would be “seaoogwe3ed.”  If I was building a password for a twitter account it would be “seawitwe3ed.”

Note:  There are some websites that limit your password to six or so characters.  I think this is crazy!  Regardless, many of them will let you type away even though more characters aren’t being entered.  I use an 11 character password and a banking website I use limits me to eight.  I still use the same password system and type what I want but it only recognizes the first eight characters.

It will take you a while to switch all your passwords over.  I kept a handwritten list of websites I had switched with me for a couple of weeks.  When I came across a website I couldn’t remember the password for I’d check the list and made adjustments.  In the long run your password security is worth the time!

If you follow a system share it with us!

Nibbling away -

Sundi