Lisa’s Logic: Passwords

If you're on the computer, generally speaking that means emails -- work or personal, plus online banking and so on -- and that means passwords. Every so often it is recommended that you change your passwords. It was just suggested to me yesterday.

So here we go. Make it secure, something to remember, helpful if you write it down but put it somewhere secure and know where you can find it.

A strong password is eight to 15 characters long, using upper- and lower-case letters, symbols and numbers. That's a lot to remember.

I know you're not suppose to use birth dates, but I do in variations. Maybe spell out the month or only a portion of the date.

I even found a few websites, yeah real surprising, to help generate a secure password, but I think I would still change it a little bit. It could be at least a start. They also give tips on how to make it secure.

Then I found a story of a big company that was hit by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and the CEO had to talk to the families to help to get passwords for all the company computers. It did sound like it was very personal and very well done. As well as something like that could be.

The writer goes on and asks his family and friends for their passwords. He even received some from strangers.

Some were keepsakes like inside jokes, lost love or an ex-inmates ID number.

Some were playful, like incorrect, or the first letter of a sentence... tSI$8T*t, which is "The sun is shining... Think Happy Thoughts".

So, be creative, mix it up, make it oddly personal, something you will remember.

Then think of another one in 90 days or less.

The sun is shining... Think Happy Thoughts.