Scammers, hackers and spammers, are all trying to gain access to your accounts. They have
thousands of ways to trick you, so your initial line of defense is a fortified password they
won't be able to crack. In this project, we're exploring 6, "digital" life-hacks, for
building strong & secure pass-codes.
Let's start this project by grabbing a pen, and a piece of paper. This will give us
a "digital disconnect", from any online intruders. We need a password that's easy to remember,
and super secure. That means, it needs a good mix, of random letters, numbers, and
funky symbols.
Now a lot websites, will let you use the spacebar, as a special character.
So that means, you can use full sentences! Why use a passWORD when you can use a passPHRASE?
Come up with a statement, like "I want to be 23!" Something like this is super easy
to remember, and check out what you've done. You now have a 16 character password with
a capital letter, 8 lowercase letters, 2 numbers, and 5 special characters. By making a passPHRASE,
you exponentially boost your protection, even if it's one, as simple as this.
To make an original, and completely randomized password, make three
columns, and write down the categories; Who, What, and When. Now fill in the blanks,
and remember that the crazier the idea, the better. Be specific with dates, and times,
and develop it into a sentence, will full punctuation. "I'm training with Iron Man
at 8am on Friday!" Now simply take the first character of each word, and you end up with
an incredibly strong password (ItwIMa8oF!), that's easy to remember, and virtually uncrackable.
Another example could be something like "Next year I'm going to Hawaii on March 5th." (NyIgtHoM5.)
These memorable passwords are 10 characters long, completely randomized, and have a great
mix of numbers, special characters, and letters, in both upper, and lower case.
Think of your favorite movies, songs or TV shows, and use the quotes,
and lyrics as inspiration. If you got "I'll be there for you!" from a TV theme song, try
switching, "for you" into the number 4, and a capital "U". Your password is "I'll be
there 4U!" It' s a 17 character pass-code that's easy to type, easy to remember, and
has all the essential elements to keep you protected. Now some accounts won't let you
have spaces in the password. That's no problem, just take out the spaces and it'll work just
fine.
Trying to memorize dozens of passwords is too hard. To keep
things simple, many people use the same password for most of their accounts. When a hacker
discovers one of your passwords, and it's the same password for your bank account, your
personal information, and your email, you can imagine how that's gonna affect your day.
There are at least 3 different categories,
where you need to have different passwords. Banking,
Entertainment, and Email. Try remembering them like this; It's 1. For the money.
2. For the friends. 3. For the email things you send. Each password should be around
10-12 characters, and be completely different.
You could use the same password for similar sites, but to make it even better,
try taking some of the letters from the website itself and adding them in. From Facebook
you might take "F" & "b" and add them to your already secure password. From Twitter you
could get "T" & "r", and YouTube might be "Y" & "T". Choose letters that you can remember,
and if you're ever forced to update your password, just add one more letter to the end. It's
as easy as that.
The most secure protection comes with having a long, and randomized password
for every different account. This will take more work to create, and chances are, you
won't be able to remember them. You can win that challenge by writing them down on
one piece of paper, and storing that paper, in a place you're gonna protect. Like
your wallet, for quick and easy access, or a super secret safe, like the one we made,
in a previous project.
Now If you like the idea of different passwords for each account, but don't wanna get your
paper out every time you log in, there are password managing systems that can do it for
you. Password vaults like these, will store all your passwords securely, maintaining full
protection, and allowing you, the speed and luxury, of a "one click login" to any of your
sites.
Well now you know how to make a strong and secure password, that will thwart a hacker,
and help protect your digital life.
By the way, if you've already been hacked, or feel like you might be vulnerable, check
the video description for some "helpful hints"
If you liked this project, perhaps you'll like some of my others. Check them out at
www.thekingofrandom.com