How to make your easy to remember passwords less hackable (probably not a word)

A little news update if you haven't noticed.

1. Technology is growing faster and faster every year, so that means people are getting smarter and smarter. (Hackers are people too.).
2. As technology gets better, so do the programmers who create this technology and so the hackers.
3. Did you know that there are programs created just for the type passwords I mentioned above? Here are a few known hacks
   • Birthday Attack- named from a theory that out of a group of 23 people, there is a 50% chance 2 or more will share a birthday
   • Dictionary Attack - you guessed it, it uses words from the dictionary. It even has the option to append numbers. * I had a password of silver1979 after a coin I found.
4. Beware of those sites that ask TMI (Too Much Information). One site I created a account on asked those same questions that the bank asked (this draws a big red flag in my opinion). You know the questions I'm talking about. Whats your mothers maiden name? What was your first car? What high school did you attend? Keep in mind these are unrelated questions, but if this site and your bank site ask you the same questions; someone else knows those answers they can get your bank password as well!

Most sites require you to create a password with 6-8 letters. If they require stronger options, they will add a required capital letter, number, andor symbol.

Here are a few tips to keep your passwords safe and easy to remember.

I will keep these very simple, but feel free to combine any or all of them.

• Use your favorite whatever (team, name, holiday etc.) but add a number.

Ex. My favorite holiday is Independence Day (I won't share the reason) so a password for me could be 4thofJuly1994 or 7-Forth. Notice it's easy to remember and complex enough to beat an attack.

• Still use your childs name John and his year of birth. Don't do it the typical way, but like this; 19john89 or joHNjuly89. That way even in small talk you can say my password is my sons birthday. Even if someone was listening, they would still have a very hard time guessing your password.
• Capitalize any letter but the first in case sensitive passwords. I was guilty of this as well. If I had to create a password with a capital, I would just make the first letter capital of the same simple word.
• Don't use words “correctly”. As you may can tell from this article, my spelling sucks. If you spell a word wrong in your password who knows? and WHO CARES? The password is yours, not to be turned in for a grade!!! ex. PeeNuts.
• Use phrases or quotes you like; ex. Takes12know1, HapE2CU, NGodweTrust, cUl@er=see you later (I just thought of that!).
• Don't use the minimum amount of characters. Some sites have minimum password minimum lengths of 6-8 characters. In that case make your password 9 lettersdigits or more.
• Make your bank passwords different from your email passwords

Here's a short list of examples. Ask your children about funny ways to spell certain words. (I know most of you have seen the V-wireless commercial) “my BFFF Jill” Remember you want it complex, but you want to remember it also.

• cyNthia21- Combines a name with a significant day of the month
• Knock4Times- part of a phrase that was on a friends door
• 4thHourof24- time of day I was born
• SnoopPee- one of my favorite dogs. Note if you spell it incorrectly, only you will know!!
• Ih0p3Ulearned2day
• pa$$w0rds?
• A few common letternumber switches
  • One instead of L
  • Zero instead of O
  • 2 instead of "to" or "too"
  • 3 instead of E
  • 8 instead of ate
  • 4 instead of for
  • @ instead of "at" combination ex. B@ = Bat, C@ = cat, F@ = fat