Strong passwords made simple, without losing your mind

Most people know their passwords could be better, but the advice out there is often overwhelming or contradictory. Let us cut through it. You do not need dozens of unmemorable jumbles of characters. You need a small number of good habits, and here they are.

Length beats complexity

A long password is far harder to crack than a short but fiddly one. The modern advice is to use three random words joined together, something like coffee-harbour-tractor. It is long, it is easy to remember, and it is genuinely strong. Add a number or a capital if a website insists, but the length is what does the heavy lifting.

Never reuse your important passwords

The biggest risk is not a weak password, it is the same password used everywhere. If one website is breached, criminals try that same password on your email and your banking. Your email password especially should be unique, because whoever controls your email can reset almost everything else.

Let a password manager do the remembering

Trying to remember a different strong password for every account is impossible, and that is exactly what a password manager is for. It stores them all safely behind one master password and fills them in for you. It sounds technical, but a good one is genuinely easy to use, and we are happy to set one up and show you how.

Turn on two-step login where you can

Two-step verification means that even if someone gets your password, they still cannot get in without a code sent to your phone. It is one of the most effective things you can do, and it is well worth switching on for your email and banking in particular.

A note on writing them down

Writing passwords in a notebook kept safely at home is far better than using weak or repeated ones, and for many people it is a perfectly sensible middle ground. The real danger is not paper, it is reuse and predictability. Just keep the book somewhere private, not stuck to the monitor.

• ●Three random words make a strong, memorable password
• ●Never reuse your email or banking password anywhere else
• ●A password manager removes the need to remember them all
• ●Two-step login adds a powerful extra layer of safety