Password security is a major priority today, but it’s not always clear how to create and store passwords in a way that is easy to manage but difficult to hack.  Here are five of the most important ways experts recommend to keep your passwords secure, as well as some problems that are not so easily solved.

1. Never use the same password twice.  It’s tempting to create one secure password to use for a number of important accounts.  After all, it’s easy to remember one password.  But this is a huge security risk!  If one of your passwords is discovered, then all your accounts are compromised.  Experts strongly recommend creating unique passwords for each account.

2. Create a long password, with a variety of characters.  It is recommended that secure passwords be at least 12 characters long.  They should also contain both upper and lowercase letters, as well as numbers and symbols.  In fact, most experts now agree that human-generated passwords are on their way out altogether, because passwords generated randomly by a computer are so much more secure. 

3. File named passwords.txt or passwords.docx are easy to hack.  Many people try to solve the problem of remembering dozens of long, complex passwords by creating a document where they are all saved for easy reference.  We recommend you never give a file like this an obvious name, like password.docx, because hackers look for files names like that when searching for easy prey.  Even without an obvious file name, experts tell us we shouldn’t save passwords in plain text format, or even in image form. 

4. Sticky notes are not secure.  How many of us still write all our passwords on sticky notes?  Be honest.  Passwords written on sticky notes kept on your computer screen or desk might be safe from online hackers, but anyone walking by could memorize or steal your password.  Even if you think you know everyone who would see these notes, there’s no way to be sure your passwords are safe from discovery.  

5. Don't use email to share passwords.  Sharing passwords among employees in a small business can be difficult, especially when they must be frequently updated.  Oftentimes the only convenient way to communicate passwords is by email, but experts tell us that this is not secure.  A password update is one of the most likely times for a security breach to occur, because dozens of emails might be flying around with subject lines like “new password” possibly alerting hackers.