How to choose a good password


18 K 4.1/5 (35 reviews)
Grade this page:
Last modified on: March 29th 2013
For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend
How to choose a good password

password

These days more and more websites ask you to create a user account, so that you can be identified before being allowed to access some service or other.

To create an account you need to choose a user identity. This is simple, as your email address is used in most cases (ann.other@gmail.com, for example). Then you will need a password.

Ah! The password: the access key to so many things in your life: your computer, tablet (maybe), inbox, profile on Facebook or other social media, all the websites – commercial or otherwise – where you have a user account (oh yes, cuisine-ez.com is one of them).

The problem with this password is that it needs to be difficult for a hacker to find when attacking one of your access points, but simple enough for you to remember easily.

You should be aware that one of the so-called "brute force" methods hackers use consists of using another computer to try thousands, even millions of words based on dictionaries (all the words in many different languages, all first names, all possible numbers, etc.). So obviously, you should forget any password which is a word or name, like “Jeremy” , or “11021990” . They will only take a couple of minutes to crack.

While we're on the subject, here are the top 10 worst passwords of 2012:

password



Let's look at what makes a good password:
  1. Meaningless when read, not a recognisable word or number
  2. Made up of lower and upper case letters along with numbers and, if possible, unusual characters (*, !, ?, etc.)
  3. At least 5 characters long, but 8 is better
  4. Known to you alone: a password is like a toothbrush – not for lending to others


So, how do we find this rare beast? Well, you can come up with a string of random characters, such as
1dH2$6up – very effective, but very hard to remember!

There is a much better solution: you will need to think of a phase, a fairly long one, that means something to you (the title of a film, book, poem, proverb, saying, etc.). Whatever it is, it needs to be familiar enough to come back to you quite naturally.

Let's use as an example the film "Star Wars Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back". To create your password, use the first letter of each word, which will give you "sweftesb". This is difficult to guess and you can recite the title to yourself in your head as you type each letter.

That's really not bad at all, but we can improve it by adding in a few refinements: replace the "s" of "star" with "*" and replace the "f" of "five" with "5", which gives you "*we5tesb".

And Bob's your uncle! This system provides you with a password that is very difficult for a hacker to find, but which you can have at your fingertips in a matter of seconds.

Of course, you should never, ever, write it down anywhere afterwards, that negates the whole point…

password


If you need a reminder, just write down "empire strikes back" somewhere. That should be enough to jog your memory.




Lasts posts
Thinning out herbs
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...
August 8th 20258165
Add a bay leaf
Add a bay leaf
Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...
July 31th 20251,1875
Parsley stems
Parsley stems
Parsley, whether curly or flat, is a delicious ingredient in many recipes, where it is used both raw and cooked. When used raw, in a salad for example, where it always provides, alone or with other herbs, a remarkable freshness, only the leaves are kept. And when used cooked?
July 28th 20251,234 13
A drizzle of olive oil
A drizzle of olive oil
Often in a recipe, you have to "baste" vegetables, for example, before sending them to the oven. What the author means by this is that you need to put oil on top of the vegetables to cook them in the oven. Typically, we just quickly drizzle oil over the vegetables, hoping not to miss any, but...
July 13th 20251,4455
Always secure your cutting board
Always secure your cutting board
When using a cutting board, it's very important that it's stable and doesn't move while you're cutting, for safety's sake. Boards have a natural tendency to slide on the work surface, but here are 2 ways to block them effectively.
July 1st 20251,5265

Other pages you may also like
Thinning out herbs
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...
August 8th 20258165
A few tips for effective kneading at home
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.
June 23th 2021277 K 23.7
The Holy Grail of French bakers
The Holy Grail of French bakers
While browsing through the recipes on this site, you may have noticed that while I adore cooking (everything, in fact, to do with eating and drinking), I am particularly drawn to bakery: bread, viennoiseries and all that goes with them – it’s a real passion of mine; I love making them and I...
March 24th 201817 K 34.7
How to sprinkle well?
How to sprinkle well?
When in a recipe you need to sprinkle something, that is to say to spread a fine layer of powder (flour, sugar, etc.) on something, powdered sugar on a pie for example, you will probably use a fine strainer or a sieve, this is the best way to proceed. But is that all?
May 23th 20237,5444.7
In praise of slow cooking
In praise of slow cooking
You will no doubt have noticed that in cookery, it's often the actual cooking process that gets neglected. This is understandable; it comes at the end of the recipe and getting the dish in the oven is something of a relief (ah, that's done!), which frees us to cope with what's left: tidying the...
February 9th 201140 K4.2
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page