What makes a good password?

1:07 p.m., Oct. 9, 2006--The longer the password, the harder it is for someone else to guess. Make your UDelNet password 7-8 characters long; when allowed, make other passwords longer.

Choose characters from each of the following groups:

Upper case letters (A-Z);
Lower case letters (a-z); and
Numbers, symbols and punctuation marks (0-9, $, #,*, !,@).

Do not use a name or a dictionary word--from any language.

Use nonrepetitive series. That is, don't use “qwerty” or “123abc” as passwords.

Create a password that has no connection with information about you: birth date, phone number, name, address, SSN, UDelNet account, mother's maiden name, etc.

Consider starting with a phrase or a sentence that you can remember, and convert it into a strong password. For example, “Groucho, Harpo, and Chico were the 3 funny Marx Brothers” could become GH@C3fmb. (Do NOT use this example as your password!)

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