Top 500 Passwords to Avoid
I just read a great article from my PC Pitstop Newsletter, and the article had a link to this site that lists the top 500 passwords to avoid:
Top 500 Worst Passwords of All Time
I can think of several others that should also be avoided:
- Video game system and character names
- Common movie and TV show character names
- Common book character names
- Product brand names (Dell, Sony, JVC, Acer, Nokia, Apple, Whirlpool, etc.)
- Unaltered TV show, book or movie titles
- Unaltered full names of actors and other celebrities
Also, here is the link to the PC Pitstop blog article:
10 Rules to Protect Your Passwords
I can’t say I agree with everything in it, but using a combination of some of the suggestions gives you at least medium strength passwords.
The best passwords are generated randomly by computer using small and capital letters, numbers and symbols; and a minimum of 8 characters. 11-16 characters is better. But, you must be able to remember them. Therein lies the password dilemma.
Some PDA’s have programs that can randomly generate passwords for you, and then you can delete them within the encrypted part of the software. They can’t be hacked unless you have a way of hacking 256 bit or higher encryption and then recovering deleted data from it. One rule for using these programs is don’t connect your PDA to the internet. Key logging software could capture this information as well.
I disagree that passwords shouldn’t be written down on paper and locked in a safe when at home and access is limited. When one dies, someone needs to be able to get into the person’s computer and it makes it a lot easier on your executor to provide the information in some form. The safest place to lock a written list of passwords would be a bank safe deposit box.
Another reason to have some record of passwords other than in your head is what if you have brain surgery or a mild stroke? The brain part that remembers the passwords could be erased and you’re up a creek without a paddle at that point.
It’s a tradeoff. Password strength and security v the human fault to forget things. My advice? Make the best tradeoff you can.
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