Nicole’s Guide to Making a Better Password
By: Nicole Yu, Grade 9
Nowadays, the internet can be a scary place. It’s full of hackers, imposters and all sorts of suspicious activity. The key to staying safe on the internet is to make an excellent, secure password. How do you make a secure password? Follow these steps to find out.
Step 1: Pick a random word, preferably in a different language.
Example: pleut
Step 2: Scramble the letters so that they are unintelligible.
Example: tlepu
Step 3: Capitalize some of the letters
Example: TlePu
Step 4: Throw some numbers into the mix.
Example: Tl1e9Pu8
Step 5: Finish with a couple of symbols.
Example: Tl@1#e9&pu*8
Of course, that would be very difficult to memorize, so write it down on a small piece of paper and hide it someplace you’ll remember. Take it out when you need to log in. Don’t try to memorize the keys; try to memorize the keystrokes. When you’re confident that you’ve fully memorized this password, dispose of your hardcopy any way you wish. Make sure you don’t share it with anyone, because that’s one of the biggest mistakes people make concerning passwords.
Now that you’ve made a secure password, feel free to use the internet as you wish. Have fun, everyone!
