How to make a password so complex, it's not worth a hackers time - yet easy to remember.

Making a complex password is much easier than you think.
Not only can you make one that is so complex, it's not worth the time to crack - but it's also easily rememberable.
Even a child can create and remember a complex password.

First, the 4 rules to a complex password...

• The password must be at least 12 characters.
• The password must have at least 1 capital letter.
• The password must have at least 1 number.
• The password must have at least 1 of the following symbols: dash(-), period(.), or underscore(_).

So how am I going to appease all those rules and still have an easily rememberable password?

Here is the process:

• Think of a song or poem or group of people that means something to you. (Examples below)
• Take the first letter of each word.
• Capitalize any letter that would normally be capitalized, or just capitalize the first letter.
• Pick a number that has meaning to you, maybe your birthday? Anniversary? Last 2 of your Social Security Number? Phone Number? Graduation?
• Separate all the letters and the number with one of the symbols.

Example #1 - Poem
There is this old poem that has been in our family for generations that starts "Two lonesome skunks by the roadside sat".
If I took the first letter of each of those words it would make:
Tlsbtrs
Then I would take the year of my birth which was 1977 and add that to the end, seperated by a period.
Tlsbtrs.1977
AND VIOLA, A 12 CHARACTER COMPLEX AND EASILY REMEMBERABLE PASSWORD!

Example #2 - Song
I had an old girlfriend that I almost married, and she even picked our wedding song "I can't help falling in love with you" by Elvis Presley.
If I took the first letter of each of those words it would make:
Ichfilwy
I graduated from High School in 1995, so I'd use 1995 at the beginning seperated by a dash:
1995-Ichfilwy
AND VIOLA, A 13 CHARACTER COMPLEX AND EASILY REMEMBERABLE PASSWORD!

Example #3 - People
Let's say mine name is Snow White who was born in 1937, and I have 7 friends named Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey.
SW37_dghsbsd
See the pattern?
AND VIOLA, A 12 CHARACTER COMPLEX AND EASILY REMEMBERABLE PASSWORD!

Naming your passwords
If you name your passwords, you get 2 MAJOR advantages...

1. Writing down your passwords.
   Let's say I do actually use those passwords for varying websites. I can safely write down, even on a public blog, what passwords I use for which websites. I could write that my password for gmail.com is the Elvis password (from example #2). There is not a person on this planet that is gonna have any idea what that means. I could write that my banking password is the skunk password (from example #1). If anyone happens to see that, they won't have a clue what I'm talking about. And don't use the characters in the password to give it a name. In Example #3, don't call it the SW password, call it the white password instead. This way, even if you write them all down like that, no one will have any power over you even if they find your written notes. The secret is to never write down the actual password and never tell anyone your pattern.


2. Saying your passwords out loud
   My wife and I share alot of online logins, such as our banking login, ebay, kids school website, credit card, etc. If you handle your passwords as I just stated above, you can remind your spouse which password to use, even across a room full of people.
   Amy yelling across the room: "Hey Mark, what is the bank password?"
   I yell back "It's the skunk password!"
   And no one in that room will have any idea what my password is.

Giving out your passwords to friends or strangers

• Let's say there is some emergency (and it better be a real emergency) and you have no choice but to tell someone your password over the phone to give them access to something. AS LONG AS THEY DONT WRITE IT DOWN, you can tell them your password one letter at a time as they type it in, and as long as you don't share the pattern used to create the password, they most likely will never be able to remember it. I've had to do this maybe 3 times in my entire life. You should only do it when there is absolutely no other option and to someone you unconditionally trust. But in all 3 cases they were unable to recall the password after just a few seconds, as there is nothing recognizable in the password for their brain to latch on to. You might still consider changing your password afterwords.

How many passwords do I need?
I suggest you have 3.

1. Personal Password
   This is the password you will use for anything that applies only to you. Facebook login, World of Warcraft login, Gmail, Pinterest, Google Play Store, etc. It's doesn't neccesarily need to be kept secret from your spouse, it's more that if you differentiate this from your Family Password, then you're further securing yourself from someone getting ahold of the one password that will get into everything.


2. Family Password
   This is the password you will use the most. This is for any place that you share a login with family members (such as your spouse). Amazon.com, wireless router, eBay.com, banking website, credit card website, kid's school website, etc.


3. Work Password
   This password you only use at work. You will end up probably having to share it with the IT guy or something at some point, and you don't want them to know the password you use for everything else as well, so keep it separate.

How long would it take a computer to crack my password?

You can test the strength of your password at https://howsecureismypassword.net/