Creating Strong Passwords

The quality of password-cracking software is constantly improving. As a result, the ability to create strong passwords is vital to protecting the important data that you store on a computer or send over the Internet. To create a strong password, it’s a good idea to consider a number of factors.

Each password should:

1.	Be at least seven characters long. Because of the way passwords are encrypted, the most secure passwords are seven or 14 characters long.

2.	Contain one or more of each of the following types of characters:

a.	Letters (uppercase and lowercase).

b.	Numbers.

c.	Symbols.

3.	Have at least one symbol character in the second through sixth position.

4.	Be significantly different from any formerly used password.

5.	Not contain your name or your user name.

6.	Not be a common word or name.

Windows passwords can be up to 127 characters long. However, if you’re using this version of Windows on a network that also has computers using Windows 95 or Windows 98, consider using passwords no longer than 14 characters. If your password is longer, you might not be able to log on to the network from those computers.