Strong passwords are important protections to help you have safer online transactions.

Suggestion to strengthen your password: length and complexity

An ideal password is long and has letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers.

• Whenever possible, use at least 14 characters or more.

• The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better.

• Use the entire keyboard, not just the letters and characters you use or see most often.

Simple way to create a strong password that you can remember

There are many ways to create a long, complex password. Here is one way that may make remembering it easier:

Test your password with a password checker

A password checker evaluates your password's strength automatically. Try our secure password checker (coming soon).

Protect your passwords

The easiest way to "remember" passwords is to write them down. It is okay to write passwords down, but keep them secure.

Common passwords to avoid

Cyber criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly decipher passwords.

Avoid creating passwords using:

• Dictionary words in any language.

• Words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and abbreviations.

• Sequences or repeated characters. Examples: 12345678, 222222, abcdefg, or adjacent letters on your keyboard (qwerty).

• Personal information. Your name, birthday, driver's license, passport number, or similar information.