Do you ever wonder if your website passwords seem too easy to figure out?  Are you sure you’ll forget that randomly generated security password they give you?  Here’s an easy to do way to remember your passwords, and make them safe.

I just finished signing up for a profile on Google. ( http://www.google.com/profiles/thathypnotistguy , just in case you want to check me out! ) and started writing down the password.  One of the things I try to make sure I don’t do is make the password TOO easy.  I’ve heard some people will make their password the same for EVERY website.  That sounds reasonable to help someone remember their passwords, but from a security standpoint, that’s not the smartest move.

It is often suggested that whatever your password is for a website, they should contain RANDOM characters, letters, and numbers to be a strong password.  Something like i87cb4G is a little difficult to remember as a password, especially remembering what WEBSITE that goes with.

Or is it?  Let’s look at a memory technique we learned early on in childhood. You may not have known it was called an Acronym.  Perhaps you have heard of HOMES.  That is an acronym for the the Great Lakes in North America; Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.  Musically, you may remember the Acronym FACE to represent the open spaces on a musical scale.

You can apply the same technique to your passwords.  Let’s imagine you’re setting up a new password for Google. Make up a funny phrase that applies to Google.  Remember, the funnier, or more creative the image, the easier it is for you to remember.  So in my mind, I’ve created the image of me jamming seven crackers in my mouth and then trying to say “Google”.  (Those of you who have played the game “chubby monkey” know how much fun THIS is!)

Let’s now create an acronym for that image: I Ate Seven Crackers Before Google.  That would work out to iascbg which by itself would be a good password, random letters. Now let’s throw in some numbers and you get i87cb4G . Notice the numbers 8 replaces “ate” and 7 replaces the word “seven” and “before” can be squeezed into the letter/number combination “b4″.  Finally, the capital “G” is used for Google as it’s a proper name (or is it?!).

So you now have a fun system for creating and memorizing passwords to your favourite websites!  Give it a try and see how easy it is!