One of the most popular articles in last week’s NY Times was “If Your Password is 123456, Just Make it HackMe.” You’re probably laughing right now, but take a look at the article, and you might stop laughing when you realize that your favorite password — the one you thought was so clever — is actually on the list of most popular passwords.
There’s no question why we choose easy-to-remember passwords, even when we know we shouldn’t. Now companies are forcing us to choose something a bit more complicated than, say, “password” (number 3 on the list). Recently Twitter banned subscribers from using 370 of the most popular passwords. You can see a list of banned passwords here. Security experts have lots of advice on how to choose passwords; see the Times article for some tips and browse the comments for reader suggestions. At the least you should follow this advice:
… bowing to the reality of our overcrowded brains, the experts suggest that everyone choose at least two different passwords — a complex one for Web sites where security is vital, such as banks and e-mail, and a simpler one for places where the stakes are lower, such as social networking and entertainment sites.
One tool that can help is the Secure Password Generator located at PC Tools, which will generate a random password; there is a secure version located here. Just remember to note the password somewhere so that you’re not locked out of your favorite site the next time you visit.
Photo: rpongsaj
About Regina Fried