
Cybersecurity Tip: Strong Passwords

Don’t overcomplicate your passwords. Length is key.
Which do you think is stronger “K%V9b?v7” or “1OrangeFrogReading!”? It may surprise you, but password length has far more influence on how strong a password is than how complex it is. Making a long but memorable password will both keep you safe and spare you needing to constantly reset your forgotten passwords.
Though it is important to include upper case, lower case, numbers, and special characters in your passwords, making a password overly complex only succeeds in making the password more difficult for you to remember. Fraudsters are no longer guessing passwords, they are instead using algorithms to attempt to crack your password by going through all the potential possibilities. Every character you add to your password exponentially increases how many combinations the algorithm would need to take into account as it goes through that process.
Try combining an adjective, noun, & verb to create the core of your password. This approach makes the password naturally longer with the additional benefit of being easy to visualize which makes it more memorable. Once you have your words selected, just throw in some numbers and a special character or two and you will have a strong password ready to go. For example GoldLionRoars1874$ is easy to type, easy to remember, but exceptionally difficult for a fraudster to crack.
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