A strong password is critical for ensuring user safety in the Internet. Many companies now offer additional means of protection – from two-step verification, where user has to enter a code sent to a mobile device after entering the password, to fingerprint scanners. However, the passwords remain the main barrier between data and cybercriminals – which makes them the major target for the latter. The criminals use a number of ways of stealing passwords, from bruteforcing to using spyware. Below, you’ll find a number of useful tips for making your passwords stronger.

1. An ideal password should be both simple enough for you to remember and hard enough for everyone else, including hackers who could try to bruteforce it. Do not write your passwords in a file on your computer or on your smartphone. The files could be erased or damages, and a smartphone could be lost or stolen. This way, you could lose access to your accounts as you would not remember your passwords – while the new owners of a stolen mobile phone could get access to it.
2. Use both lowercase and uppercase in your passwords, as well as letters and other symbols. This makes the task of remembering your passwords harder, but it also makes your passwords much more safer.
3. Don’t use your own name, birth date, post code and address, as well as those of your friends and family, pet names, car license plates, etc. This information is easily accessible by a broad circle of people, and there is no guarantee a cybercriminal would not get hold of it and would not use it to guess your password.
4. For different accounts, don’t use passwords that differ only in one letter or number – like User1, User2, User3, etc. Never use the same password for two or more accounts: in case of an attack, criminals could easily access all your accounts at once.
5. Never use weak passwords like 12345 or abcde – there is a 100% guarantee that the accounts would be broken into sooner or later. 1a2b3c4d5e is also a very weak password, by the way.
6. Never tell your password to anyone. If a company requires you to tell them your password – even if you have an account with them – it is highly likely that this is not the company that wants your password, but cybercriminals disguised as company representatives.