Password Security

Expounding on what Jeff stated about passwords…

Password security is the first line of defense for your blog. Please, please, please, I can't stress enough the need to use strong ciphers for your password. A combination of mixed case letters and numbers is the best protection.

Example: ABc12DeF34

Jeff is very much correct that you need to use a combination of upper-case and lower-case, as well as numeric character. I would also encourage the use of special characters such as @%$. It is also important to try and stay away from dictionary words.

With all these restrictions, how do you come up with a password that is mixed in case, has numbers and specials, and isn’t a dictionary word?

I usually start out with a phrase… such as “Keep Away From My Data You Bastard”, and then I make an acronym out of it… KAFMDYB. This password now needs to have a mix of upper and lower case alpha characters. KafMdyb would work. Now it needs numbers, if all else fails you can go with the date you made the password. KafMdyb0115, it still needs specials. I like to change out vowels for specials… so the final result would be K@fMd*b0115.

You can come up with your own pattern for making passwords, and once you have a pattern or a routine you use, you just stick with it. Using the same routine makes the passwords easier to remember.