Quick Guide to Passwords

Unless you're brand new to the Web, you probably have several identities in Cyberspace. Your passwords protect you by keeping other users from taking on your identity or reading messages meant for you. If you access a bank account online, your password protects your money, as well as your identity. In each case, it pays to establish passwords that are difficult to guess.

Choose a combination of at least eight letters, numbers, and symbols, mixing uppercase and lowercase letters for variety. For added security, change your passwords every three months and never write them down. How do you remember a random-looking string of letter, numbers, and symbols? By choosing a combination that makes sense to you but that isn't obvious to other people.

For example, pick a memorable phrase like "My lazy brother always sleeps in on Saturdays." Simply choosing the first character from each word yields "mlbasios," a text string that's meaningful only to you. Now, if you throw in some numbers and symbols that resemble the letters, you get something like "m1b$!0s." Or, you could use Zs for "sleeps in," resulting in "m1bZs0s." You've now got a memorable password that no one is likely to guess.

Don't neglect your computer's login password. If your computer is stolen (or even if walk away from your desk for a while), a login password is the easiest way to safeguard your data.