How To Create A Strong Password For Making Yourself Hack Proof

Nobody likes to have their social media accounts hacked into. Who does? Yet, it’s inevitable if you don’t take the time to learn how to create a strong password. Social accounts with weak or predictable credentials are the ones that are usually hacked the most. As such, you may be looking to beef up your security. But the more accounts you have online, the harder it is to generate a strong password. No doubt you used all of the same ideas: a variation of your name, your favorite song, your birthday, or even your favorite movie character. If people know you or have read your profile bios, then absolutely anyone can make a good guess as to what your password may be. If you’re fresh out of ideas, there are still a few things you can try to create a strong password to make yourself hack-proof:

 

1. Move Your Fingers One Row Up Or One Row Down

This is one of the best of all strong password ideas out there and the beauty of this tip is that you can use the same password for more than three accounts.

Each time it will be different (yet easy to remember the password) and even harder to crack. Using this method a password like sunshine becomes w7hwy8h3 when moved up a row. With a password like that, no one will be able to figure out the reasoning behind your logins.

 

2. Integrate Upper Case Letters

Having a password with upper case (capital) letters is certainly a lot tougher to crack than a password without them. If you add them into random places within your password like the second or third letter, it becomes even harder for someone to get it just right.

 

3. Add Special Characters

Another thing you can do is add random special characters. Users won’t take the time out to try different combinations of letters, let alone ones that are riddled with possibly 10 special characters.

Having one or two will take your password strength up a notch.

 

4. Just Mix It Up

With users trying to think of common words, there’s one easy way to throw them off the scent: rearranging and mixing up the letters. Considering that a person has to guess the password first, you can bet that they won’t be thinking about trying to re-position letters.

Choose a long word when using this method. The more letters hackers need to guess at, the better your security.

 

5. Use Objects On Your Desk

We all need inspiration sometimes, and getting it from objects around us is usually the most common source. Users often try and hack accounts from different computers, and thus won’t know what objects inspire your password.

To be on the safe side, just in case the user is trying to hack your account from the same computer, put any objects you used to generate your password into a drawer or remove it altogether.

 

6. Spell It Backwards

What better way to get malicious users stumped than with a password that’s backward? This tip follows the same logic as mixing up your password’s letters.

Malicious users will usually try and guess words and phrases that are spelled the proper way first.  They won’t be bothered by words that are spelled backward.

 

7. Insert Numbers

In some cases, having a few numbers in your passwords is a good approach. Adding a number to the ending, beginning, or middle of a word will make it harder for people to guess.

Just be sure that if you decide to make a password that’s composed entirely of numbers, it isn’t a phone number you’re associated with or your social security number.

 

8. Use More Than One Word

Sometimes a site requires that your password be longer than a certain number of characters or that it be comprised of different types of characters. These are usually the hardest passwords to come up with. For this tip, use two or even three words to fulfill that requirement. It’s an easy way to strengthen your security.

 

9. Use A Cipher

A cipher is a code key that offers you a secure way of writing in secret. By assigning different characters or letters to represent each letter of the alphabet, you can create an endless amount of secured passwords.

So your cipher can look something like the following: A= M, B= N, C= O, and so on. The code sequence is entirely up to you.  Using this method, you can use the most common words out there, and all you have to worry about is keeping your cipher secret.

 

10. Use One Or More Of These Methods Together

This tip is a great idea as it gives hackers more obstacles to struggle with. Add 2 uppercase letters within 2 words and include 3 numbers. Or spell the object on your desk backward with random characters slipped in somewhere. Perhaps even mix up the letters from a word generated by your cipher. The possibilities are endless.

 

Bonus Tip

Do you still have questions about ‘how to generate strong passwords’? Don’t worry apart from the password you can also use the security questions to verify your identity. These are another great way to strengthen your security online. The answers don’t even have to be true.

For instance, don’t enter your dog’s name if you pick the “What is your pet’s name?” question. Pick a word that isn’t even a name! You just have to be able to remember it.

Note that these methods are only suggestions to give you an added level of security. There are so many other ways you can beef up your password. What other successful tricks have you tried?