Password tips I shared with a neighbor today, FYI

I use RoboForm, a software you download and install.  It puts a toolbar on your browser and auto-fills any passwords you ask it to keep.  There are various settings about what passwords to keep and whether to auto-fill or fill when you ask it to by clicking on the right button.  You can keep your credit card info and ask it to fill that, too.  Its information is held locally (on your PC), and encrypted -and password protected, so you want to use a very strong password for that one.  It was recommended by an IT security guy at work, and it's well rated so I figure it's safe.  I've used it for years with no problems.

 

If you travel much or use lots of different computers, it's worth buying the version that stores your passwords on their website instead of locally so you can access them from any computer, not just yours.

 

Some ideas about using good passwords that are easy to remember:

 

Replace letters with numbers (like 1 for I and 3 for E, ^ for A, $ for S) or use the Shift version of those numbers, but think I and E as you're typing so you can think a word, but type something more complex and harder for hackers to guess.

 

So the word "Ivanhoe" would be "1vanho3" or "!vanho#" depending on which substitution you use.

 

Another tip is to use the first letter of a phrase, like a favorite song or poem, so "He's still running against the wind" becomes "Hsratw" or "H$r^tw" - which would be very hard for a person to ever guess.