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Michael's Guide 

Chapter 2 - Choosing Passwords

Now that you know what not to use, you might be thinking that you are going to have to use a random string of characters. This is somewhat true. A good password is one that appears random. But even seemingly random characters can have a meaning to you.

A good password will be eight or more characters and contain both letters and numbers. You can also use special characters (such as - + = %) if you are allowed. Most passwords are case sensitive, so use both upper and lowercase letters.

Michael's PickA good place to go for a totally random password is GRC's Password Generator (www.grc.com/pass). This website generates a totally secure, unique and random password everytime you refresh the page. It will generate a 63 character password. If you need a shorter one, just grab as many characters as you need.

A handy trick is to use the first letter of each word in a sentence. For example, “Four score and seven years ago” would yield "fsasya." Of course, this fails several of the tests, so we can make it more secure by changing it to "4S&7ya". In order to make it 8 characters, you can just and 2 more “random” characters, such as "aL" (for Abraham Lincoln) to the beginning. "aL4S&7ya" looks like a totally random set of characters, but it's pretty easy for you to remember. This is an easy way to create a password and a pneumonic device to help you remember it at the same time. You don't have to use a famous quote, either. One that you make up yourself is even better. No one is going to guess "!il2cIf!" if it means "I like to cook Italian food!"

TIPSecret questions... All websites usually make you put a secret question on file with them. If you ever forget your password, they will ask you to answer this question to authenticate your identity. They usually ask for your mother's maiden name, the town you were born in, your pet's name, etc. These are all things people can figure out! Either use a really obscure question to which only you will know the answer or use a fake answer? Yes, I said a fake answer, there is no reason you have to give your mother's real maiden name. Just pick a name. However, make sure you remember what you picked!

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