*This information is adapted from the National Cybersecurity Alliance

Picking a Strong Password

There are 3 main characteristics that all passwords should have: long, unique, and complex.

Long
Every website will have different length requirements, but a good rule of thumb is no shorter than 12 characters. The longer the password, the more secure it will be.

Unique
Every password you have should be unique, that is, you shouldn’t repeat passwords across accounts. This way, if one password is compromised, your other accounts can still remain secure. These should be truly unique, meaning not just a single character change. A password manager can help you keep track of these.

Complex
Again, most websites will have their own requirements for how complex a password must be. Regardless, every password should combine uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters (it depends on the site what will be allowed, but generally things like !*@?$ are allowed, and sometimes even spaces). It’s even better if your password is not an easily guessable word or sequence.

How Often to Change Your Password

The good news is, if you follow the guidelines above, the only time you really need to change your password if if you know that someone unauthorized is accessing your account or that your password was compromised in a data breach. While old advice stood that you should regularly change your password, doing this while following the above guidelines could cause you to create similar or weak passwords. So set a good password now, and as long as it isn’t compromised, you’re all set!

Remembering Your Passwords

In a world we have constantly more accounts, it can be hard to keep track of all your passwords, especially if you are following guidelines to keep them long, unique, and complex. This is where password managers come into play. With these, you only need to remember the password to access the manager, and the software will handle the rest for you. You should never be writing down passwords in places where people might be able to copy them. Read the page on password managers for more on why they are the more secure and convenient way to maintain many accounts all with secure, individual passwords.