How to create a strong password to confuse and confound the hackers

Here’s your chance to learn How to create a strong password that will confound the best of hackers with evil intentions.

While you may roll your eyes every time you have to set up a new one, knowing How to create a strong password is your best protection against cyber criminals and scams and should not be taken lightly.

Did you know that cyber crime is now becoming more profitable than the global trade of illegal drugs? And, it’s people just like you that criminals are targeting. By 2021 the estimated cost of cyber crime is expected to exceed $6 million annually. Unauthorised access to your personal information is the most common path a hacker will take, and your password is all that stands between. Now, if that’s not an argument for learning How to create a strong password then we’re not sure what is.

It’s not just a case of the length of password. There are other things to consider before you choose your code. Although a 12-character password combining numbers and letters should theoretically take up to 6 thousand years to decipher, if it’s your street address – a hacker might figure it out a great deal sooner. Likewise, using birth dates, kid’s names or phone numbers provides an easier target.

If your password is numbers only, you need to use at least 15 digits before you get any sort of protection, and even then, a committed hacker could crack it in about 46 days. When using letters, include both capitals and lower case, and at least 10 characters to buy yourself 169 days of protection. Many sites have a minimum of 8-character passwords. If you choose to limit yourself to this number, you need to include upper and lower-case letters, numbers and a symbol. This combination would take someone 57 days of effort to crack.

So, How to create a strong password that is also one that you will remember? One suggestion is to use a base password and then letters and symbols to disguise it. Deliberately misspell a word or develop an acronym based on a memorable phrase or line in a song. If you choose to use real words as part of your password, make them random combinations so they make no real sense together. Cybercrime is a very real and growing threat. A strong password is your best protection to becoming a statistic.