I want to choose a good password. Is it safe to use a common word, but spell it wrongly?

Question

I know that it is not safe to use, as a password, a word that is in the dictionary. But what if I use a variation of a common word that is in the dictionary?
For instance, I would not use the word "motorway" as a password, but would the word "motarway" be a safe password?
Also, does it make a password a little bit safer, or a lot safer, if I use numbers as well as letters of the alphabet? And if I use numbers, how many should I use? So, would "motarway3891) be safer than "motarway38"?

Answer 1

Safer passwords use a combination of alpha and numeric characters plus one that is neither like a comma, $, % or *. It should be no less than 6 characters in length, 8 is much better but more than that gets hard to remember. You can also mix cApS and non-caps since passwords are case-sensitive.

Answer 2

The suggestion of taking a word and spelling it backwards is good.

However I have a very different way of choosing passwords.

'Patterns'
Make the password so that when you type it out is forms a pattern on the keyboard. For example, p0ol (that's the letter p, the number 0, the letter o and the letter l) forms a diamond/kite pattern.

Or the letters sdewqazxc form the @ symbol.

Numbers are a great addition to any password and certainly do make it safer.

For example sdewqazxc could be made into sdewqazxc424 or sdewqazxc12321.

motarway3891 is sure safer than motarway38.

:-)

Answer 3

Hi - as a general rule the longer the password the more secure and including numbers makes it more secure again. I'm sure that mis-spelling a word would help - makes it a lot harder to guess after all, and don't forget that passwords are often case sensitive, some even allow spaces. So you could try something like: casE sensitivE for instance.

Another important tip is to change your password regularly, i.e. once a month,and if you think you might have trouble remembering you could perhaps choose a sequence of words. I tend to just choose something random, like the first thing I see when sitting at my desk,and use that with capital letters in places. Hope that helps!

Answer 4

All these ideas are known to hackers. The strength of the password relies on

(1) complexity - it needs lots of characters and a good variety of characters, including capitals, numbers and symbols. The more complex, the longer it takes for a cracker to get it.

(2) memorability - if a password needs to be written down, it's crap!

In the office we use a thing called KeePass Password Safe. It measures the strength of your passwords as you type them in.

Most systems allow spaces in passwords - that means you can make it complex while keeping it memorable. For example

"My 9th dog, Benjy, was born on 12/1/2002"

is pretty difficult to crack, but quite easy to remember.

Never ever speak your password to a human soul.

Answer 5

it makes the password a lot safer when u use numbers as well as letters. but not like 123 or 456. mix the numbers up

Answer 6

Sometimes, when I'm stuck for a good password, I use the first letters from each word of a favourite catchphrase, and tack on a couple of digits, or odd characters like ' and _.

Answer 7

you can two words and put a number in between, also a typos and an upper case letter in the middle.

eg: (I dont use this example as my password!!)

orange786lemon (basic two words and numbers)

ornage786leMon (plus extras)

for 128+ bit security you would need say 4 words and 3numbers:--

eg:---

ornage78leMon46nur$ery31rhymE

Answer 8

the more variation the better. more letters(upper and lower case) and numbers. if you pick something outta the dictionary, make sure that it is still not in the dictionary spelled letter for letter even if u change it around

Answer 9

It might be better to split the word in two and put the numbers in the middle so:

moto3891rway

that would be much safer.

The more characters the better.

Answer 10

yeah thats a good idea, i usually just make up my own words, i have 3-4 i usually use.

numbers make it so much safer, but do you really need that extra security?