How do you fill out this query whenever needed in your online transactions? Do you choose as a password the name of your crush, mother, father, brother, sister, favorite pet? Do you put the date of your birthday, favorite number, student number, age, birthday of your family? Do you have a different password for every online account that you have (eg for Friendster, Facebook, Multiply, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, etc.)?
Recent news cautions people to think twice before choosing a password for emails, online bank accounts and airline tickets. According to a US study, passwords that show no imagination or distinctiveness are easy prey for information pirates. The study found 28,000 stolen passwords from a popular website reveal the following:
• 16% of them used their first name or one of their children
• 14% used “1234” or “12345678”
• For English keyboard users, “QWERTY” was used; while for European keyboards, “AZERTY”
• 5% were names of tv shows or stars popular with young people, like “Hannah” (Hannah Montana), Pokemon, Matrix, and Ironman
• 4% used “password” and its variations – “password1”, etc.
• 3% used attitudes like “yes” or “no”
The tip from the experts? Choose a password that is longer than 8 characters and use capital letters and symbols.
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