You need to change your password.

That’s right, the start of a new year is a great time to review your IT security and change your Duke password. Here are three ways to create strong passwords.

• Use LastPass – LastPass is the single best tool for protecting your online activities.

  • Use LastPass to generate a strong password for you.

• Pick a song lyric and use that.

  • Take the first letter of each word from the first couple of lines

    • I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain, that’s what people say, mm mm

    • 1s02l-Gn1mb-Twpsmm

    • Substitute a couple of the letters with numbers and use a dash for the commas

  • When it’s time to change your password, take the next two lines and repeat

  • Bonus points for a good earworm

• Create a base password and version it.

  • Put together 12 random letters, numbers and special characters – memorize it

    • C7qrp2&YgnxJ

  • Change your password by adding a version number to it

    • C7qrp2&YgnxJ2-3

For passwords, remember that length is more secure than complexity. Use > 10 characters.

Want to see if you’ve selected a strong password?  Check it here.