Passwords

Passwords are important to the security of your Linux system. They protect you from unauthorized use both from your terminal and from the Internet. Your root password is particularly important. In general, make your password difficult for someone to guess, but easy for you to remember. Some suggestions for creating passwords are:

• Use a mixture of characters, including uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and punctuation.

• Use at least 8 characters.

• The starting letters of a favorite saying make a password that's hard to guess. For instance, Take me out to the Ball Game! becomes TmottBG!.

• Substitute numbers for letters, such as 1 (one) for l (L) or 0 (zero) for o (oh). For instance, Tm0ttBG!.

Some practices to avoid are:

• Don't use any word that can be found in a dictionary. Cracking software can try dictionary words one by one.

• Don't use dates. It's a common practice and there are a limited number of possibilities. In addition, birthdays can be discovered.

• Don't use any part of your name.

• Don't use your children's or pets' names. Someone who knows you might guess these.

• Don't write your password down and paste it to the front of your terminal. Or any variation of this. Use a password you can remember.

• Don't tell anyone your password. If someone needs to use your computer, create a new account for him or her to use.