This article suggests a few tricks you can use to create a secure and memorable password.


Why You Need A Secure Password

Cybercrime and identity theft are big and booming businesses. These criminals target everyone from students, to employees to retired persons. Therefore, you are a target for cybercrime and identity theft. Criminals want to gain access to your accounts for a variety of reasons including: steal your identity to fraudulently obtain credit in your name, gain access to your financial accounts, or gain access to your information or social media accounts to embarrass, extort, or ransom something you value. The most common techniques cybercriminals use to accomplish their goals include:

  • Tricking you into typing your password into a bogus website that they control
  • Tricking you into installing malicious software that will steal your password or give them remote access to your phone, tablet or computer
  • Discovering the password you use on one website (i.e. social media, blog, etc.) and then use that password (or some variation thereof) to get access to your accounts on another websites (such as a bank)
  • Using sophisticated computer programs and Artificial Intelligence techniques to 'guess' your password


How to Create a Secure and Memorable Password

  1. Make it long - at least 14 characters - don't think of it as a "word", think of it as a passphrase or sentence 
  2. Add variety - include at least one: uppercase letter, lowercase letter, number, and punctuation mark or other symbol
  3. Make it unique - do not use the exact same password for more than one website or system
  4. Make it personal and memorable to you
  5. Make it adaptable - Make some portion of your passphrase easy to change - for example include the month or day or season when you last set the password


For example, if you are a music fan, you might pick a stanza from a song you like and mix it up a little:

  • "I will survive. Long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive" – Gloria Gaynor, "I will Survive" 
  • could become --> "IWSlaikhtlikisa!92022"


Another example, if you are more of a surreal, day-dreamy literary type:

  • Random Phrase: "Must I Deliver Bologna to Paris September 2022?"
  • could become --> "MustIDeliverBolognaToParis92022?"


Consider incorporating some aspect of the particular website / system you are using to keep it memorable while also building in adaptability to ensure the passphrase as a whole is unique:

  • Random Phrase: "Must I Deliver MyCourses to Paris in September 2022?"
  • could become --> "MustIDeliverMyCoursesToParis92022?"


(By the way, please don't use the exact examples above. Be original.)