Password Best Practices

A Strong Password is defined as a password that is reasonably difficult to guess in a short period of time either through human guessing or the use of specialized software. When coming up with passwords to various accounts, there are standards and best practices to follow so that your accounts are best protected.

Use a strong unique password.

• Use a minimum of 08 characters in your password. The longer your password, it will give you better security.

• String together 4 random words.

  • Example: correctwhalebatterystable

• Use a different password for each site you log into. This ensures that if another site is breached or your password is leaked somewhere, it can’t be used to log into another site.

• Avoid:

  • Using single dictionary words, spatial patterns (i.e. qwerty, asdf), repeating letters, or sequences (i.e. abcd, 1234).

  • Making the first letter an uppercase.

  • Substituting letters with common numbers and symbols.

  • Using years, dates, zip codes.

Use a password manager.

Password management tools are helpful in storing and organizing your passwords so that you don’t have to memorize all of your unique passwords. Many enable you to sync your passphrases across multiple devices and can help you log in automatically. These password managers encrypt your password library with a master password that becomes the only thing you just need to remember.