Never use dictionary words — it doesn't take long to test every word and word combination in the dictionary.
Never use just numbers — it makes things way too easy for hackers. Since there are only 10 digits (0-9) in our base 10 number system, that's 10 billion possibilities for brute force — what hackers call child's play.
A hacker may not have any interest in your password on a specific website, but he or she will try it on your bank account, credit card account, email account, and brokerage account. If they're all the same password, the intruder has struck gold!
Here's what you can do to deter hackers: Create a passphrase. A passphrase that's long and uses all available character types works best. For example, say you like mountain biking and hiking. Now, take the phrase and convert it into a single string of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special characters: I<3mtnb1K1ng&H1k1ng. It's critical to intersperse special characters and numbers as well as to use both upper- and lowercase letters.
Password-thieving hackers are everywhere, and they know that people commonly reuse passwords. We need different passwords for every site and program we use. Here's where password management software can come into play: Solutions like these are essential for critical business systems. Make sure you're on top of your personal and business passwords.