Note: Thanks to one of my Web Development students for passing this along. Author Unknown

The Need for Passwords

Passwords are like house keys. Keys let a person into an area that normally is tightly controlled to outside access. Your password is your key and protects client information. In our case at The Life Link, passwords are often the keys to client data. When someone besides you has access to your password, they have access to all the information you look through. The computer does not know individuals. If you share your password with someone who should not be looking through protected data, the computer will not stop them. Also, when you allow someone to operate under your password, even if you do not share your password with them, they have access to all the information you have access to. In short, do not give people your password, and do not sign-in for them and allow them to use your computer. They have access to everything you have access to.

Good and Poor Passwords

There are some basic rules to setting up good passwords. They must:

1. contain at least eight characters
2. contain both upper and lower case letters
3. contain special characters, i.e., !@#$%^&*()_+{}|<>?,./;’
4. contain numbers

Here’s what they must not be:

1. found in the dictionary
2. any common information about you, i.e., the name of your pet, your address, phone, anniversary, birthdays, family member name, etc, etc.
3. written down. If you must write them down, change some of the words. Instead of blue, put orange. Instead of sky, put water. Instead of fox, put chicken. And, do not put stickies on your monitor or under your keyboard reminding you of what the password is!

A difficult password is very easy to set up when you know how. Many of them can be phases and/or sayings you remember from your Mother, Father, or other person. It could be a letter out of one of your favorite songs, Or, it could be something made up and out of the blue. Check the password below to see if it meets the rules above.

iWbm23#mM&D

What would be the chance of someone guessing this? Really slim! However, this is a phase that I made up just within a minute or so. In English, it says – I was born March 23 to(#) my Mom and Dad. Of course, I switched the normal capitalization rules and put “#” in for “to”.  Here’s another:

OsCYs?btd3L

In English: O say can you see by the dawns early light…- the beginning of a very popular song, is it not? All I did was to put a question mark where it feels like a question mark should go, and to get the “3”, I moved my finger up the keyboard one key from an “e”.

 

Password	English
iL*b’scb8am	I like StarBuck’s coffee before 8am
mGFwbiNM*1905	my Grandfather was born in New Mexico in 1905
Tnpi2009otUSwb?	The next president in 2009 of the US will be?
BBB&tJ	Benny, Benny, Benny and the Jets

 

So, how many songs to you know? What you like to do or not do? What phrase or saying do you remember from a family member or even a jingle you hear from a TV or radio commercial? This is one way to make a great password. And, it is very simple once you know how. If you know another language, you can also use that as well!

It is important that we use great passwords to protect our client’s information.  At some time in the future, you will get a message saying that your password will expire (in so many days), or that you need to change your password.