These days, it seems as though we need many different passwords to keep our various accounts safe. Furthermore, they all need to be complicated enough to ensure criminals can’t work them out or use sophisticated ‘bots’ to crack them, meaning memorising them all becomes impossible.
Having one password for everything may be easier to manage, however your wealth could be at serious risk if a scammer discovers it. This means the dangers of having one password that is used for all your accounts can’t be overstated.
Writing of all your passwords down in a book may sound like a good solution, but criminals could then access all your assets if it somehow falls into their hands. The good news is that there are ways to create a robust password.
As today is World Password Day, let’s look at powerful ways to create one that is secure enough to protect you and your wealth, and how you could store it safely.
Before we do, we need to consider what makes a ‘strong’ password.
A good password is impossible to guess
Put simply, a strong password should be one that cannot be broken or worked out. This means the longer and more complex the password, the better, as it significantly increases the number of possible combinations that need to be worked out in order to crack it.
Consequently, it’s less likely that criminals will be able to guess the password or use cyber ‘bots’ to break it. Cyber bots, which are also known as ‘brute force attacks’, run thousands of possible combinations every minute in an attempt to guess passwords.
For this reason, you should avoid using simple passwords like ‘password123’ or a variation of your name, as they’re likely to be no match for a cyber bot. Similarly, using passwords based on personal information could be dangerous as a criminal could easily guess it.
As such, you should avoid using:
· birthdays
· anniversaries
· your child’s name
· phone numbers
· your pet’s name.
So how can you create a strong password that could keep your personal information and financial accounts safe? Read on to discover three powerful techniques that could help.
1. Weaving symbols and numbers into words
Using symbols and numbers instead of letters can make simple words extremely complex. For this reason, always aim to use the following in every password you create:
· a random mix of letters and numbers
· symbols such as : !@#£*/$&%
· a mix of lower case and upper-case characters.
So for example, ‘blackdog’ could become: ‘bL#c@do8’. If you use the same symbols or letters to replace certain letters, it may make your passwords easier to remember.
2. Random words technique
This combines four or five unrelated words to create a password that’s likely to be difficult for fraudsters to crack. For example: ClockShoeSheepDeskShirt
Adding numbers, Capital and lower-case letters, as well as symbols, will make it even stronger. For example, the above becomes: cl$ck7Shoe@Sheep#desk!shirt3
3. Sentence acronyms
For this, you will need to select a favourite quote, song lyric or phrase and use the first letter of each word. So, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question’ becomes: tbontbtitq
Adding numbers and symbols will increase its complexity and strength, so the above becomes: T2b!on*tBT#i@tq
Never recycle old passwords
It’s worth remembering that if you reuse an old password for an important account, you could be putting your wealth in jeopardy. If a criminal discovers it by nefarious means, they could then use it to access the account that the password is currently protecting.
This is why it’s advisable to always create a fresh password if you need to change one or are creating a new account.
Storing your passwords safely is essential
As good practice means you should create different passwords for each of your accounts, it can make remembering all of them extremely tricky. Keeping them written down in a notebook could become a major issue if criminals manage to steal it, as they could then be able to access to all your sensitive information.
If you feel more comfortable writing your passwords down, ensure they are kept securely, such as in a safe. Don’t leave them on a piece of paper or sticky note in a desk drawer.
One way you could store your passwords more security is to use a password manager.
These programs generate strong passwords and then store them. Some sync across computers and phones so you have them everywhere, meaning you don’t need to memorise remember all these complicated passwords.
A key benefit is that when you save a password it’s encrypted before being sent off to the cloud for storage. This means that only you can decrypt it.
Get in touch
While we hope this blog offers some useful ways you can protect yourself from scammers, please remember that this is not a comprehensive list. If, on the other hand, we can help with any questions you might have about investing, pensions or financial planning, please call us on 0333 010 0008 to arrange no obligation initial meeting with one of our independent financial advisers.
7 May 2026