How to Make a Memorable Password (That’s Also Still Secure!)

Abstract

Many business owners struggle to balance data security with employee convenience. When you force your team to change their passwords constantly and include a complicated string of numbers and symbols, they often write them down on sticky notes. This practice completely defeats the purpose of your security measures and leaves your business systems vulnerable to unauthorized access. You need a straightforward approach that protects your company data without frustrating your workforce.

How Things Have Been Done… and How to Do It Better

Traditional security advice tells users to take a single word and swap letters for numbers or symbols. For example, an employee might change a basic word by replacing an “s” with a dollar sign or an “a” with an at symbol. Cybercriminals are completely aware of these predictable patterns. Automated hacking programs can crack these short, modified words in a matter of minutes. Short length remains the single biggest flaw in corporate password safety, even if the word contains special characters.

Consider a Shift to Passphrases

A better alternative is to train your team to create long passphrases instead of single words. A passphrase combines multiple completely unrelated words into one long string of text. You can choose four or five random words that are easy for you to visualize but have no logical connection to one another.

For instance, barbecue roster impact feedback gooseberry

This method provides two distinct advantages for your daily business operations:

• The sheer length of the combined words makes it mathematically impossible for standard hacking software to guess the sequence quickly.
• Your employees can memorize a string of familiar words much easier than a random collection of letters and symbols, eliminating the need to write them down.

To add an extra layer of safety, your team can separate the words using spaces, symbols, or alphanumeric switching in each word. 

To build on our prior example: b@rb3cu3_rost3r_impact_f33db@ck_goos3b3rry

Too Many Passphrases Will Still Be Hard to Remember

Even with simple passphrases, tracking dozens of different corporate accounts remains difficult for a busy employee. Your business can eliminate this burden entirely by deploying a centralized password management tool. These applications securely store all corporate credentials in an encrypted vault, requiring your staff to remember only one master passphrase to access their work tools.

Transitioning to a structured credential system protects your proprietary data and keeps your workflows moving smoothly. Contact NetMGM today at 888-748-2525 to discover how we can help you deploy secure credential tools across your entire organization.