September 23, 2012
[The title is the first password mentioned in Harry Potter books]
I have always been paranoid about security, but in the last few weeks the paranoia has increased, especially since I read how hackers almost entirely erased the digital life of Mat Honan. [Here's the follow-up articles on how he got (a part of) his data back and then about catching the hacker]
Google has done a great job by providing two-step verification. Here's how you can use it. I wish more services would provide such security-enhancing solutions. So today I set sail searching for the best ways to create passwords which are hard to guess and yet easily memorable by humans. I didn't want to use a software/service for it because it tends to limit the number of places you can use the service to enter the password (apps on phones/tablets, for instance). I understand that they are a much safer way to go, but the dependency was something I wanted to stay clear of. For those interested in such software solutions, please check out roboform, lastpass and gringotts :D
Instead of trying to explain what has already been explained, and in ways much better than I possibly can, I'll share the links with you.
For those interested in numbers, here' the analysis of how ATM PIN numbers are spread across the possible 10,000 values (0000 - 9999) Hopefully yours is not one of the top 20.
And here's an awesome XKCD post about password security :) Be safe. Peace.