Creating Easy to Remember yet Secure Password

Is your password safe? At a multi-billion dollar company one of my first jobs in the computer field there was no password security. In fact their password was "password" for everyone in the company including the CEO. This was one of the first things I changed.

Over the years I have had a lot of passwords and a lot of different password policies I have had to follow. There are so many websites that require you to have a password to use. You want your password to be different for each of them. You do not want to write them down because then if someone finds your yellow sticky or the note in your desk drawer they will have access to your password. If the password is for your bank website it could be disastrous.

There are many policies about passwords. But instead of going over all of them I will give you a way to create a password that should be easy for you to remember while being both strong and safe.

Step 1
First you need to create a master code. I recommend you do not use anything that can be connected back to you. Do not use your initials or your social security number.

We are going to create a password for someone I will name Joe Sample. Joe is married to Sue Sample whose maiden name was Miller. Joe is a Dallas Cowboys fan. He likes football over any other sport. He was married in June. He graduated from high school in 1983. He goes to church on a regular basis. We are going to craft a master word he will not forget.

Master Code Choices:

• DCF83@06
• SM-S#06
• B1bleF@@t
• June^83

There are many more choices we could craft. We will say Joe Sample liked SM-S#06 for his master code.

Step 2
Now that you have a master code chosen we will come up with a plan on how to create the rest of the password. We will first list a few applications and websites that will need passwords.

• Home Computer Login (Home Desktop)
• Work Computer Login (Business name Joe's Body Shop)
• http://www.yahoo.com
• http://www.google.com
• http://www.aol.com
• http://www.live.com
• http://www.facebook.com

Now you have to decide how many vowels and consonants you will use to create the rest of your password. For Joe we will use 4 vowels and 2 consonants to come up with the rest of his password. To get the rest of the password you take the first 4 vowels and then the first 2 consonants of the application name or the website name. I tend to exclude the .com or .net of the website name. You can decide to use it or not that is your choice. You can change the number to 3 vowels and 3 consonants or whatever number you choose but you should keep them consistent after that on every website and application. If you have more vowels then there are in the name of the website or application then you simply go back to the first start again. Now I can show the password for each of these applications and websites.

• Home Computer Login (Home Desktop)
  Password: SM-S#06oeoehm
• Work Computer Login (Business name Joe's Body Shop)
  Password: SM-S#06oeoojs
• http://www.yahoo.com
  Password: SM-S#06aooayh
• http://www.google.com
  Password: SM-S#06ooeogg
• http://www.aol.com
  Password: SM-S#06aoaoll
• http://www.live.com
  Password: SM-S#06ieielv
• http://www.facebook.com
  Password: SM-S#06aeoofc

The only flaws to this system are if you tell people your master password and how many vowels and consonants you are using. You could even decide to change your master code if you feel someone has found out and as you go to your applications or websites change them to the new master password.

Now let's look at one more problem. If your company requires you change your password every 90 days then you can make the last part of the password something you change.

Work Computer Login (Business name Joe's Body Shop)
Passwords:

• SM-S#06gocowboys
• SM-S#061983
• SM-S#06sue
• SM-S#06dallas
• SM-S#06miller
• SM-S#06lovesue
• SM-S#06suedallas

Here's hoping this helps you get rid of the yellow sticky notes and other places you have stored your password.