Selecting a good password

Passwords are case-sensitive, ie. upper and lower case are not equivalent.

In order to be as secure as possible your password should:

• Be at least 8 characters in length (the longer the better though old Windows systems may not cope properly with more than 14)
• Contain at least two alphabetic characters
• Contain at least one numeric or special character. Special characters available are:
  ~ ` ! $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - + = { } [ ] | : ; ' " > < , . ? /
• Not contain the @, # and \ symbols
• NOT be a common word or name from any language or variations on your name, initials or userid.
• Not use obvious substitutions of letters in dictionary words (eg passw0rd, s!mple, s1mple, sin9le)

A good example is something like 74!7aDa?. Using the initial letters of a phrase (with added punctuation) can be a good way to create passwords which are safe but memorable to you.