Fraud Prevention - Passwords

Passwords

Passwords are the first line of defense to protect your digital assets. With compromised passwords continuously the #1 cause of data breaches, password security must always remain a top priority to keep yourself safe from cyber threats.

WHAT IS A STRONG PASSWORD?

• At least 16 characters
• Include combination of numbers, uppercase letters, lowercase letters
• Include special characters such as #, &, and @

What passwords should be avoided?

• Your, child, spouse’s name
• Birthday or SSN
• Identifiable numbers from phone number, address, or license plates
• Street name
• Sequential alpha/numeric strings

HOW DO I CREATE A STRONG PASSWORD?

One technique is to transform a phrase. For example: Yankee doodle went to town: would be: YDW2town

Chicago is my kind of town: would be: CizmKot2
I dislike broccoli would be: eyeH8brocolee

Another technique is to combine a word or phrase with letters and numbers
Five barbequed chickens would be: 5BbkewChicknz
Formative years: would be 4mativeYEARZ

The strongest passwords feature a combination of nonsensical letters, numbers and special characters. For example:
#1 – 5pN!!X99732$\]`$
#2 – 78HK&302mmz*%+<{

(Do not use any of the examples above for your password.)

Also remember: When selecting security questions, provide answers that are easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess. Do not write down your security questions or answers or share them with anyone.