Tips to set strong passwords

A password is a secret word or set of characters that is used for user authentication to prove identity. The password can be commonly found in an on line account password or ATM PIN number or file password.

Generally we need passwords to protect the confidential or personal information that has to be kept secret from others. So it is very important to set the password unique and hard to prevent it from being hacked.

The following are ten tips to choose the strong password.

1. "password1", "123456", "qwerty", "master", "1111111", "abc123" etc. According to a report, these passwords are some of the worst kept secrets globally. So, avoid using them.
2. Make sure that the password should contain at least 8 characters.
3. Do not use common dictionary words. It is vulnerable to Dictionary attacks.
4. Use the combination of Upper case and lower case letters and numbers. It is good to include some special characters also.
5. Try to avoid setting password with your details directly like using your spouse or children name or the city you live or mobile phone number.
6. Use symbols/special characters for replacement of normal characters.Apply Upper case to every alternate letter in the password. Like i as "!", a as "@", s as "$". On applying above criteria, wikipedia to be chosen as "W!K!PeD!@"
7. Use the letters of the word in the reverse order to make it stronger. i.e., wikipedia becomes"aidepikiw".
8. Intentionally leaves some spaces and wrong spellings in the passwords which makes your password least guessable.
9. While creating a new password, avoid using the combination of old password. eg. Password1, Password2, Password3..
10. Relate your password to a favourite hobby or sport. For example, I love to play cricket as !lOvEtOpL@yCr!CkeT.

After choosing a good password, check the password strength through the following websites:
          http://www.passwordmeter.com/
          http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security/