just got notification

[jeanontheroad]

that the email account I use here was attacked from the Arab Emirates. I don't use it very many places and the password is looooong.

Just a head's up. The hackers probably got it from other places, like people who have me on their contact list.

 

[caseyc]

It's important to also use capital letters plus numbers and special characters, not just a long password.

I use characters like this "#@!", etc, in addition to capital letters and various numbers.

Better yet, my password isn't even a "word" in the English language so that hackers can't do a dictionary hack.

 

[Blue]

TOR...

 

[Mackerous]

Though counter-intuitive, complex passwords (special characters, numbers, difference cases) can often be easier to hack with programs than less complex seeming ones that are longer. Here's a web comic by someone who probably knows far more than you or I about information theory/security and was also a former roboticist for NASA: http://xkcd.com/936/. This, however, has not stopped every IT department I've worked for in the last 10 years from requiring all employees use an upper case, lower case, number, and special character, AND change it every 90 days.

But the bigger threat is from something we can't control, which is companies storing your password in unencrypted formats, so that when they're hacked, no matter how good your password is, they have it.

If you're paranoid about this, use a password manager like LastPass, make your passwords for sites different and secure, and you won't have to remember them. LastPass is what a lot of the pros use and is very secure and trusted.

 

[noor100]

It is very good that You are getting notification.

 

[vagari]

Think of a easy to remember phrase:
ILikeAudieMurphyMovies

Then pick a few characters to swap (! for i, 3 for e, 0 for o, etc.)
!L!k3Aud!3MurphyM0v!3s