• Always use eight characters or more.
• Try not to use the same password for everything. Cyber thieves steal passwords on websites with very little security, and then they try to use that same password and user name in more secure environments, such as online banking sites.
• Change your passwords often. Set an automatic reminder for yourself to change your passwords on your email, banking, and credit card websites about once every three months.
• The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better. However, password hacking software automatically checks for common letter-to-symbol conversions, such as changing "and" to "&" or "to" to "2."
• Use letters and characters from the entire keyboard, not just ones you use or see most often.

Create a strong password you can remember
There are many techniques to create a long, complex password. Here are some suggestions that might help you remember it easily:

Start with a sentence or two.

Complex passwords are safest.

Remove the spaces between the words in the sentence.

Complexpasswordsaresafest.

Turn words into shorthand or intentionally misspell a word.

ComplekspasswordsRsafest.

Add length with numbers. Put numbers that are meaningful to you after the sentence.

ComplekspasswordsRsafest2011.

Test your password with a password checker
A password checker helps evaluate your password's strength automatically. Try this tool provided by Microsoft: secure password checker.

Protect your passwords from prying eyes
The easiest way to "remember" passwords is to write them down. It is okay to write passwords down, but make sure you keep the written passwords in a safe place.

Common password pitfalls to avoid
Cyber criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly decipher passwords.

Avoid creating passwords that use:

• Dictionary words in any language.
• Words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and abbreviations.
• Sequences or repeated characters. Examples: 87654321, 33333333, abcdefgh, or adjacent letters on your keyboard (qwerty).
• Personal information. Your name, birthday, driver's license, passport number, or similar information.