I've yet to meet anybody who likes the process of creating new passwords. What if I could show you a way to create a password that's both secure and super simple to remember? Stick around and I'll show you how.

Hi there, and welcome to the Rosetta Stone where we help you decode the language of IT and give you the tools you need to make informed decisions about your business IT support systems. I'm your host, Jeremy Colwell, founder and managing director of The Human IT Company here in Vancouver. And today we're talking about passwords which is especially appropriate considering that it's cyber security awareness month.

I don't really know anybody who enjoys creating new passwords and as an IT support company I can tell you that we get support requests a few times a week from customers needing help with a password reset. But there's a trick that you can use to create an awesome password for yourself that we promise you'll never forget.

One of my favourite strategies is to bookend a phone number around a password that you regularly use. The trick here is to use a phone number that has no direct connection to you or anyone currently in your life… putting your spouses cell phone or your kids phone number here is not great, But if you're like me, I'd be willing to bet that you've got a phone number from your childhood or when you were younger that you still remember. Maybe it was your childhood home, maybe it was your best friend growing up, maybe it was the radio station you always called to try to win a prize. Whatever that phone number is you probably remember it today, which means you'll remember it forever.

For example let's say you're using a password like P@$$word like the one here (and don't EVER create a password, which is a variation of the word 'password')… And let's say that your best friends phone number growing up was 604-555-1234. You can rearrange the components in those two factors and you end up with a password that looks like 604-P@$$word555-1234 And now all of a sudden you're into the 20 character range. This is a password that no IT person will ever complain about because it meets all the criteria of letters, numbers special characters, and length. It's potentially a great password.

Of course the truly simple way is to use an effective password manager. A good password manager will create passwords of incredible complexity and any length. They'll also help you manage multi factor authentication and even let you know if some of your passwords have been compromised in a data breach somewhere… but that's a different episode.

So there you have it… an effective strategy to creating long and complex passwords that you'll not soon forget. Try it, and let us know how you like the technique

If you want to know more about password managers, password management or any other IT support related issue, then send us a message here OR give us a call at 604-336-8133. If you've found this video helpful, hit up the like button and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching the Rosetta Stone, and see you next time.