Top Password Advice
You should be aware of the following to keep your passwords safe from social engineering, brute force, or
dictionary attacks, and to keep your online accounts protected:
- Use different passwords, security questions, and answers for each accounts.
- Use at least 16 characters in your password, including at least one number, one uppercase letter, one
lowercase letter, and one special symbol.
- Don't use passwords that include the names of your family, friends, or pets.
- Do not use your passwords to store postcodes, house numbers, phone numbers, birthdates, ID card numbers,
social security numbers, or other personal information.
- Don't use any terms from the dictionary in your passwords. Strong passwords include ePYHcdS*)8$+V-',
qzRtC6rXN3NRgL, and zbfUMZPE6'FC percent)sZ. qwert12345, Gbt3fC79ZmMEFUFJ, 1234567890, 987654321,
nortonpassword are all examples of poor passwords.
- Do not use two or more passwords that are identical in most of their characters, such as
ilovefreshflowersMac and ilovefreshflowersDropBox, because if one of these passwords is stolen, all of
them are stolen.
- Don't use stuff like your fingerprints as a password because they can be duplicated (but not changed).
- Do not save your passwords in your web browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer,
Microsoft Edge), as any passwords saved in web browsers can be easily guessed.
- Don't log into sensitive accounts on other people's computers, or while using a public Wi-Fi hotspot,
Tor, a free VPN, or a web proxy.
- Do not communicate sensitive information over the internet using unencrypted connections (e.g. HTTP or
FTP), as messages on these connections can be discovered without very much effort. When at all possible,
employ encrypted connections such as HTTPS, SFTP, FTPS, SMTPS, and IPSec.