Passwords are one of the oldest and most common methods of security. It keeps authorized users in and unauthorized ones out. With malicious technology on the rise, one type of attack that is growing more sophisticated is what is known as "brute force", which is a way of attempting to guess passwords (and usernames). There are methods of brute force. Depending on the hacker and their software, they generally run through lists of commonly used passwords, dictionary words, and combinations of different characters. Setting strong passwords are the key to preventing against these, especially if you have an SSH or Telnet account on a Linux or Unix server which you connect to from windows. The SSH protocol is constantly being scanned by those looking for open servers which might have weak passwords that allow them in. Though that is a common example, it can happen to anyone on any operating system; Windows, Linux or Mac. The system itself does not defend against these attacks, only your good password creation skills can.

Here are the DO's and DONT's of setting strong passwords.

DO NOT...

1)  DO NOT Use dictionary words.

These are usually the first words attempted. Particularly, short words such as "dog", "cat", "love" and "hate" should be avoided.

2) DO NOT Use all lower case or all upper case letters in situations where case matters.

If your password is CaSe SeNsItIvE make sure you take advantage of that. More on that in the DO section.

3) DO NOT Tell anyone your password, ever. 

4) DO NOT Leave passwords which you have written down out in the open, such as on top of a desk.

DO...

1) DO Create passwords that mix upper case and lower case letters.

2) DO Include numbers in the mix of upper/lower case letters to make it even stronger.

3) DO Make passwords at least 8 characters.

4) DO Create 16 character passwords if you are allowed to and can remember it (or write it down and keep it in a safe place). 

Strong passwords mix upper case letters, lower case letters, include numbers and are 8 to 16 characters long. Keep this in mind next time you set up a webmail account, get a new e-mail account or create a password for your Windows login.

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