Versatile Technology Group, LLC - News Blog

Read On For An Easy Way To Remember Your Passwords And Maintain High Security…One of the hardest habits we struggle to get our clients to break is writing down their passwords on sticky notes by their PC. Obviously this is a security risk. Another bad habit is choosing really easy-to-remember passwords such as “password”.

But admittedly, it CAN be hard remembering all of those darn passwords that are always changing. To solve this little dilemma, we’re suggesting to our clients to stop using passwords and use “pass-phrases”.

What is a “pass-phrase” you ask? They are letters and numbers put together in an easy-to- remember phrase such as “GoEagles09!” These are MUCH easier to remember than a random cluster of letters and numbers, which means you won’t have to write them down on a post-it note anymore!

Pass-phrases can be built from anything, such as favorite quotes, lines from movies, sports team names, a favorite athlete’s name and jersey number, kids’ names and birthdates, pets, and so on.

All you need to do is be a little creative to get numbers, letters and punctuation into the phrase. Since introducing this to our clients, we’ve found (believe it or not) they actually have fun doing this! Just don’t get so proud of your pass-phrase that you share it with others!

What’s the most common password?  You guessed it…”password.” Obviously this is not the best way to protect yourself against hackers and online thieves. But even if you don’t use the word “password,” you might be using an equally easy password to decipher.  We suggest you DON’T use the following passwords for really important web sites, such as your online banking web site or other financially related sites.

• Your name or your spouse’s name.
• Your children’s names.
• Your pet’s name.
• Your birth date.
• The last four digits of your Social Security number.
• Your phone number.
• Your address.
• A series of consecutive numbers, such as “1, 2, 3, 4.”
• A single word that would appear in a dictionary.

Your best bet for creating a strong password: Use combinations of letters, numbers and special characters.