CodeGuard takes password security very seriously, and we encourage you to do the same! Here are some general guidelines to follow while creating a password:
Make it long
The longer the better. One of the most common password cracking techniques online is a method known as "brute force" attacking. Basically, the attacker will randomly try to guess as many different password combinations as they can in a short amount of time, hoping to eventually get lucky and "guess right" on what the password may be. Password crackers are generally good at looking for common patterns as well, so it is probably best to avoid such combinations like "abc" or "123."
Make it unpredictable
Variety is also a good technique to use when thinking of a good password. This means that using uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, symbols and punctuation marks all in the same password are very good rules to follow. If we look back at our average password cracker, if they were to know that a person's password only consisted of lowercase letters, the number of combinations they would have to try before they guessed a password correct would decrease significantly. So the more variety of characters you use, the harder it will be for an attacker to guess your password.
Make it memorable
It would be awesome if all of us could have unique passwords like "kh30.e"79JK039;/;&&;", but let's face it, those are really hard to remember! So what else can be done? Just remember that long passwords are still always the best way to go. If it is easier to remember words, then try picking four random words out of your head and stringing them together. An example could be, "billiards hippie pineapple juice." They are four random words that are strung together, making a really long password (29 characters long!) but it is also much easier to remember. These are called passphrases, and to make a passphrase even more secure you could try capitalizing some of the words or entering some numbers at the beginning or end.
Whatever password you end up choosing, rest assured that CodeGuard has taken every precaution to make sure that your passwords are stored safely, and kept far away from the hands of a password cracker. A few final tips would be to not include personal information in your password (birthdate, name, phone number) or keep it on a sticky-note attached to your computer monitor!
Happy password making!