By now we should all know what your password is. The problem is we all have a different definition on what a very secure password really is. In recent studies the most popular is still 12345. So it really seems that we still don’t know how to use these or even to create them.

How many of you use a different one for each account? And how strong is that password? Unless you are using some type of manager there is no way you can remember all of your strong passwords. But that’s not a problem you say, you have written down all of yours and that’s how you remember them. Or maybe you store them in your smart phone in some kind of a text file. If this is the case you might as well not have a password at all.

So what does make a strong password:

• It should be 12 to 14 characters long
• It should not contain any dictionary words
• It should contain upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols
• The numbers and letters should be completely random
• Remember to use the password only one time

So now that you know what a strong one is, there really is only one way to store and remember them and that’s by using a password manager. A simple Internet search should come back with a listing that would begin with “name/password”. Now, faster Google search should come back with a listing that you would be able to remember. If you don’t use a password manager, then you should learn to, because using third party software to store your passwords could well be risky anyway.

Keep in mind that using a different password for each site is not only a risk but possibly unsafe as well. To prevent this, you should avoid using phrases that could be considered obvious in spelling or names of your family, friends, or even pets.

It might be dangerous to send messages between your different email accounts, but if you are using the same password for them, you will have to deal with the risk that if one of your accounts is hacked, then all of your accounts are also hacked. By using a password manager, you manage this risk and you can share your one password with your other email accounts as well.

It allows you to access your important accounts from any device; this includes your mobile phone. But since some of us love to use our tablets or smartphones for our daily tasks, you might not want to store all of your passwords in a computer. If that’s the case, then you really need an app that allows you to access your passwords on your smartphone.

You can of course, use the same password for all of your email accounts, not just your business email. For example, if you have an email account for shopping, and you used the same password for your bank account, IT administrator, maintenance, etc., then you should be able to access those accounts as well.

Eventually, if you have lots of different passwords to remember, it’s not going to work. You need to find a password manager that has the option of remembering your passwords for you. This is great, but how often do you use the options and actually use them?

If you have very few passwords to remember, then you can do what most people do and install a plugin that auto-login with a predefined password. But this method will NOT protect you if you have many different passwords because IT administrators will also have access to this list.

The final password you need to keep is one that YOU make up. Real words, names, and pretty much everything technical in your life is what you need to keep. Whatever you say, says, or write is not confidential in any way shape or form.

My experience with hacking email accounts is that once they are compromised, they are really easy to crack. Once they had access to my uncle’s business account (he didn’t have a very strong password), they were able to breach his email security and download dozens of emails.

So I would really like to hear from people who used one of these accounts, and if you have another question, please email me and I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.