Think your passwords are strong enough?

[hidden]

This is a lovely service that helps you test the strength of your passwords.

You'll be surprised!


A good password contains upper and lower case characters, numbers and special characters if possible.
It can be tough to come up with something that has all of that and still be remembered.

To make things easier, pick a phrase you know well.
Dirty Harry fan: he says "you've got to ask yourself one question" then make a password Yg2ay1?
or favorite song is Video Killed the Radio Star, then the password may be Mf$Vktr$ for "My Favorite Song, Video Killed the Radio Star. Substituting symbols for similar looking letters.

[hidden]

Amazing. It took 22 characters before I got a BEST rating. Then I tried using the shift key etc. and managed to get the BEST rating with 14 characters. 

[hidden]

An interesting article"  www.infoworld.com/article/06/07/21/30OPsecadvise_1.html

[hidden]

Free password keeper for personal users.
Version that works on Vista is a paid program (and allows you to run it off your usb stick).
Any Password

Not as fancy as some, simple easy to use even for non-computer literate folks. 
You can store far more than passwords in this handy little program.  I use it for everything... I even have a folder of program registrations!



I agree that the longer the password the better. 
But I also agree that the number 1 way to crack a password is by sending you a keylogger virus and just COPYING your input!  So using Adaware or Spybot, etc that look for those nasties is one of the best ways to protect yourself.

[hidden]

yep and I have read several times although not fully researched that Explorer has a built in keystroke saving function while Firefox does not and that this too may be a security leak for people who share home and or office computers. It is also reportedly an additional risk for those who log into password sites.. or use creidt cards on line in public places.