PSSSST! HERE'S HOW TO CREATE A SAFE PASSWORD

THURSDAY, January 13, 2004

Section: BUSINESS

Page: E4

By Julie Hinds Knight Ridder Newspapers

-- What's the best password? The safest one, say the computer security experts.

They've got several tips for making your passwords hard for others to guess: Avoid personal information and common words. Use at least six characters. Mix upper-and lower-case letters. Combine numbers and symbols. Put in a spelling mistake on purpose.

A combination of those tricks is usually recommended. If your password is Mackinac, for instance, you could vary the cases, add numbers and symbols, and wind up with something like MaCk1nAc$.

And for sensible advice, it's hard to top the University of Michigan's educational campaign for incoming students: ''Passwords are like underwear. Change yours often. . . . Don't share yours with a friend.''

But what about choosing a password that's easy to remember? Although security experts don't always approve, Web users have come up with some fairly simple memory gimmicks that aren't as obvious as names, birthdays or license plate numbers:

Take a phrase and use only the first letters. If you're a big fan of ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,'' for instance, your password could be ITYFA (''Is that your final answer?'').

Another method is to use your first pet's name and the street you grew up on. Voila, you've got a funny fake name and an instant password (Fifi Main). If you recall high school French or Spanish, you can translate your password into a foreign language.

Select passwords that will come to mind the next time you visit a particular site. For a book site, the initials of your favorite novel might work.

If you must streamline your passwords, try grouping them by categories. Create one for shopping, one for banking, one for work and so on.

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