Tips for Helping Your Child Create a Good Password

Creating a good password can be a difficult process, even as an adult. We know that they must be long and include numbers, symbols, and upper- and lowercase letters. The best passwords often involve a random sequence of letters, as opposed to actual words. But that can be incredibly difficult to remember. Fortunately, a good password is not necessarily one that your closest friends or family couldn’t (eventually) guess — but that a hacker or computer couldn’t guess. This is worth remembering when helping your child create a good password. Whether you’re creating a password for your child for the first time, or teaching them how to make a good password — and remember it — the following are some tips to keep in mind.

Read More: Keep Your Digitally-Savvy Teen Safe Online

• It’s a good idea to create unique passwords for each account or device, especially when it comes to more important accounts, such as those for your e-mail or online banking.
• Make the password as long as you can, and incorporate lower- and uppercase letters, symbols, and numbers. Avoid popular number sequences, words, or important dates.
• Have your child think of a TV show they like, or even a favorite food or color. Tell them to choose something that they will remember, but something that isn’t easily guessable. Now alter that word or phrase, and add in some uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
• If you or your child is having trouble thinking of a long password, it’s okay to repeat the password twice to make it longer.
• Teach your child to memorize the password. This is a good practice, especially for beginners who don’t have dozens of different passwords to remember. However, it usually doesn’t hurt to let your child write down his or her password, as long as that information is kept in a safe place.
• A password should be changed semi-regularly.
• Remember to emphasize that a password that is easy and fast to type is not always the best password — Security is more important than speed!

Protect Your Devices From Threats
You have enough things to worry about as your child learns how to navigate the internet — don’t let hacking be one of them. Download PSafe Total for your Android device and PSafe Total Windows for your PC to ensure that your devices are protected from malware 24/7. With PSafe Total you can also add an extra layer of security to your favorite apps, by using the Vault feature to add second passwords. Another layer of security never hurts — especially when you’re sharing your devices with someone still learning about how it all works.