In How to Secure Your Computer: Maxim #4, I told you what to avoid when coming up with passwords. You want a password that is either unguessable or difficult to guess. By far, the most unguessable password would be a string of random characters like ‘Qt6W’{/b?@mn,QL”Q% and the longer, the better. You can get ready-made “perfect” passwords at GRC’s Ultra High Security Password Generator page. The problem with such passwords is that they’re impossible to remember; you have to store them somewhere or print them out. Far better to have a password that looks random, but means something to you so you can remember it.

That’s easy to do: Simply come up with a meaningful phrase and then convert it a string of characters. Here’s one: I drive 33 miles round-trip each day. (Notice I included numbers and a dash.) That could become id33mr-ted. Make some of the characters uppercase: iD3#mR-TeD  (I made every other character uppercase — easy to remember). You get the idea.

You can, and should, come up with your own variations on how to apply this.

Cheers!
The Geek

Have a computer problem? A question about your latest gadget? Click here to Ask the Geek! Kenny “The Geek” Harthun has been playing with geeky stuff since 1965. He’s a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer with Connective Computing, Inc. providing network, desktop and info security support services to a wide range of clients.