Here is my take on to how to make passwords more secure:
* Use a mix of lower and uppercase letters: Mixing up your cases adds complexity and safety to your chosen password.
* Add numbers: adding your favorite numbers will give you a safer password by increasing it’s complexity. EASY can be 345Y
* Add symbols: Symbols are the secret to security. In the basic ASCII character set, there are 128 possible characters can you imagine some one trying to guess which letter/character/symbol is next on your password?
Password length = Password strength
Most websites prompt you to create a code with a minimum and maximum amount of characters, often between 8 and 14. Since each additional character increases your odds of staying safe, be sure to max out the length of your password. If you can enter 14 characters, don’t stop at 10 — those extra 4 characters will work to your statistical advantage.
Password padding: Symbols are your secret weapon
It used to be that a random password like Pr5^w4”t3F was perceived to be the best password. But the reality is that people can’t actually remember those totally random passwords, so they don’t end up using or sticking with them.
To solve this dilemma, Security researcher Steve Gibson wanted to create a memorable password strategy that would be equally secure. He stumbled onto the idea that long passwords loaded with symbols can be both ultra-secure and yet also easily memorized. He came up with the following example to prove his point.
Which of these is easier to remember? Which is more secure?
D0g!(!(!(!(!(!
PrXyc5NFn4k77
The more memorable password is D0g!(!(!(!(!(! since it looks like the familiar word “dog” and ends with a repeating pattern of symbols. And according to Gibson, D0g!(!(!(!(!(! is also the more secure password because, while it too has numbers, letters (upper and lowercase), and symbols, the first example is one character longer than the random second password — and it has more symbols.
We found this cool website that gives you an idea of how strong or how easy it is to crack the password you enter. Search Space Calculator