Passwords You Should Never Use

Using secure passwords is critical to protecting your data. You will note that I said secure passwords. Passwords become insecure when you leave them on a Post-It note stuck to your monitor, put them on a list labeled “PASSWORDS” that you keep in the drawer under your keyboard, or that are just too simple to decipher.

Good passwords are made from a combination of letters (both upper and lower case), numbers, and characters like %#* and ^. They should be at least eight characters long. They should also contain no word that might appear in a dictionary.

Passwords you should never use include all of those that are on the list from Listable. They are on the list because they are the most commonly used (that means obvious) passwords. Therefore, they are going to be the first ones to be checked by a cracker.

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