Strong Passwords

Passwords

In the wake of Heartbleed we need to consider stronger unique passwords. We advise our clients to change all their passwords regularly and use strong unique passwords for each site.

We want unique passwords so that a compromised site won’t give away the keys to all our sites. The worst password is something that’s guessable with a dictionary search in any language. One of the most abused passwords is “Password”. If you must use something you can remember then substitute special characters for letters.

Example:
Use | (pipe – above the \ key) or 1 (number 1) or ! (Exclamation)  for L
Use the number 3 for the letter e (imagine the 3 flipped vertically)
Use @ for a
Use the number 5 for the letter s
Here’s more Leet dictionaries references
 

Password Management

A Password Management tool like Last Pass will ease the pain of keeping track of multiple passwords, changing them and tracking their history. With a management tool you can create secure passwords like zC69*&pEa0EsZ@BM

That’s not something anyone is likely to guess but it’s not easy to remember either. The Password Management tools remember these for you and even fill the credentials in for you on most sites. The management tools also make it easier to generate new passwords and remember them. Last Pass also has a Security check that will advise you on which passwords should be changed and how strong they are.

Last Pass is free for PC and laptop use but you pay a nominal fee to use it on your mobile devices (e.g. phone).