Password Generator

To prevent your passwords from being hacked by social engineering, brute force or dictionary attack method, and keep your online accounts safe, you should notice that:

  1. Do not use the same password, security question and answer for multiple important accounts.
  2. Use a password that has at least 16 characters, use at least one number, one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one special symbol.
  3. Do not use the names of your families, friends or pets in your passwords.
  4. Do not use postcodes, house numbers, phone numbers, birthdates, ID card numbers, social security numbers, and so on in your passwords.
  5. Do not use any dictionary word in your passwords.
    1. Examples of strong passwords:
      1. ePYHc~dS*)8$+V-'
      2. qzRtC{6rXN3N\RgL
      3. zbfUMZPE6`FC%)sZ
    2. Examples of weak passwords:
      1. qwert12345
      2. Gbt3fC79ZmMEFUFJ
      3. 1234567890
      4. 987654321
      5. nortonpassword
  6. Do not use two or more similar passwords which most of their characters are same, for example, ilovefreshflowersMac, ilovefreshflowersDropBox, since if one of these passwords is stolen, then it means that all of these passwords are stolen.
  7. Do not log in to important accounts on the computers of others, or when connected to a public Wi-Fi hotspot, Tor, free VPN or web proxy.
  8. Do not send sensitive information online via unencrypted( e.g. HTTP or FTP ) connections, because messages in these connections can be sniffed with very little effort. You should use encrypted connections such as HTTPS, SFTP, FTPS, SMTPS, IPSec whenever possible.
  9. When travelling, you can encrypt your Internet connections before they leave your laptop, tablet, mobile phone or router. For example, you can set up a private VPN( with MS-CHAP v2 or stronger protocols ) on your own server(home computer, dedicated server or VPS ) and connect to it. Alternatively, you can set up an encrypted SSH tunnel between your router and your home computer( or a remote server of your own ) with PuTTY and connect your programs( e.g. FireFox ) to PuTTY. Then even if somebody captures your data as it is transmitted between your device( e.g. laptop, iPhone, iPad ) and your server with a packet sniffer, they'll won't be able to steal your data and passwords from the encrypted streaming data.
  10. It's recommended to change your passwords every year.
  11. It's recommended that you remember a few master passwords, store other passwords in a plain text file and encrypt this file with 7-Zip, GPG or a disk encryption software such as BitLocker, or manage your passwords with password management software.
  12. Encrypt and backup your passwords to different locations, then if you lost access to your computer or account, you can retrieve your passwords back quickly.
  13. Turn on 2-step authentication whenever possible.
  14. Access important websites( e.g. Paypal ) from bookmarks directly, otherwise please check its domain name carefully
  15. Protect your computer with firewall and antivirus software, block all incoming connections and all unnecessary outgoing connections with the firewall. Download software from reputable sites only, and verify the MD5 / SHA1 / SHA256 checksum or GPG signature of the installation package whenever possible.
  16. Keep the operating systems( e.g. Windows 7, Windows 10, Mac OS X, iOS, Linux ) and Web browsers( e.g. FireFox, Chrome, IE, Microsoft Edge ) of your devices( e.g. Windows PC, Mac PC, iPhone, iPad, Android tablet ) up-to-date by installing the latest security update.
  17. If there are important files on your computer, and it can be accessed by others, check if there are hardware keyloggers( e.g. wireless keyboard sniffer ), software keyloggers and hidden cameras when you feel it's necessary.
  18. Lock your computer and mobile phone when you leave them.

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