Want a super strong but easy to remember password that will take 43 quintillion years for a computer to crack? That is a long time.
Michael Wallace of Peak Advisers has an easy-to-remember password strategy that supposedly would take a computer 43 quintillion years to break. How long would it take to break your current password?
Before we start, go here to test the strength of your password: https://howsecureismypassword.net/
Steps for super password security:
- Select two special characters.
- Write them down twice.
- Select a phone number from a phone number you no longer use and write it down.
- Pick a nickname for a special person or a name that no one you know uses. As an example, I could use Xavier.
- Write that down, but write it down with additional capitalization and a replacement such as using a "3" in place of the "e." Xavier becomes XaVi3r.
You should have a list that looks like this: & & * * 3034457 XaVi3r
Now consider those independent values you created and put them in any order you like: *3034457&XaVi3r*&
Here are the final steps:
Between the second * and the second &, insert three consecutive letters from the name of any website you visit that requires a password. As an example if you were visiting Apple.com you could use any three letters: the first three (app), the middle three (ppl) or the last three (ple) and apply that rule to every website you visit. We'll use the last three letters of the website name for our example.
So your password would be: *3034457&XaVi3r*ple&
However, you created a replacement rule above so when you apply it to our example, the final password for Apple is actually:
*3034457&XaVi3r*pl3&
Here’s another example. Your password for Comcast would be:
*3034457&XaVi3r*ast&
One more. Your password for Wells Fargo would be:
*3034457&XaVi3r*rgo&
Look at that! Now you have a 20-character password that is specific to each site you visit, but with rules and components that are easy to remember.
Oh, don’t forget to change one of the rules once a year.
Trust me this is easy to remember and with practice you will type it very quickly.