Welcome to PPV

Here are some other suggestions, culled from a range of sources, for devising passwords that are both secure and easy to remember:

• Use the calendar. Type in the month, year and a few letters to identify the account, such as "sep06Budgt." The following month, change "sep" to "oct." No repetitions. No-brainer.
  


• Add characters. Take the name of the account or website, then add, say, the last four digits of a familiar phone number (though never your own). That might produce "bizblog9485."
  


• Use mnemonics on random passwords. If you get a password assigned, don't change it — just find a way to remember it. Say you got "4tgGw39DK." That could become, "For the great Google warrior 39 Donna Karens." Not poetry, but say it a few times and it turns into a mental tattoo. You can get random character strings from free online utilities like Passnerd.com and BizFormBar.com.
  


• Combine small, misspelled words. To make a password easier to remember, use words starting with the same letter and perhaps related meaning (hyheihallo), then perhaps capitalize the first letters (HyHeiHallo) or break the words up with numbers (Hi1Hei2Hallo3), or substitute numbers for some letters (h1h3ihall0).
  


• Use first letters of a phrase. "mygolfhandicapis6," for example, would become "mghi6."
  


• Devise a code. Nothing techy here, just a simple scrambling system. For example, if your password phrase is "MyHandicapIs6," move one key to the right for each character: "
  


• Keypad scramble. Take a name or phrase you can easily remember, then type it using the phone keypad. "MyHandicapIs6" could become “my4263422747six."
  


• Scramble words. For instance, alternate the letters of each word, so "MyHandicapIs6" could become "MHI6yasndicap."
  


• Use special keys. Hold down the shift or alt key as you type part of your password. With the Alt key down on every third character, our handicap password becomes "my·anðicåpis§."
  


• Add spaces. Assuming the company's or website's password protocol allows it, it's a good way to foil dictionary searches. You might have "myhan dicapi s6."
  


• Remove vowels. "Mhndcps6."

Aside from these tips, you can also download free program such as  Acerose Password Vault. You install it on your computer, create one strong password that logs you into the program, then the software automatically generates and/or remembers all your other passwords.
Read full article: CBC News