How to . . . create safer passwords

A never-ending topic of discussion is how to create safer passwords. This is not an easy task, since experts suggest you create different passwords for each place you need one and change them frequently. Here are some suggestions.

1. Create a unique password from letters (including at least one capital) and numbers that is at least six characters long. When you need to create a new password, use the first few letters of the website or part of its name then add your unique password to it (e.g. Amazon.com might be AmAPhu5m6LooB).

2. Take an old number you no longer use but remember (a phone number or locker combination) and transcribe it into letters (e.g. 555-1212 would be eeeabab). Then take a word and transcribe it into numbers (hunt = 8 21 14 20 or 8211420). Combine the two, or embed one in the middle of the other.

3. Take the name of a relative or friend (not your own), remove the vowels and capitalize at least one letter (e.g. Williams becomes wlLmS). Add or embed the person's birth year. To make it easier to remember passwords, consistently capitalize the same place letter or letters (e.g. third and fifth letters).