{"id":8218,"date":"2026-10-23T14:13:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T19:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/?p=8218"},"modified":"2026-10-23T14:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T19:17:24","slug":"life-changing-password-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/life-changing-password-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Life-Changing Password Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Life-Changing Password Advice<\/h1>\n<p>I had previously written the <a href=\"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/password-commandments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Password Commandments<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I &#8211; Thou Shalt Not Use Biometric Security<\/li>\n<li>II &#8211; Thou Shalt Log In to Your Computer<\/li>\n<li>III &#8211; Thou Shalt Secure Your Smart Phone<\/li>\n<li><strong>IV &#8211; Thou Shalt Construct Secure PINs and Passwords<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>V &#8211; Thou Shalt Protect Your Identity<\/li>\n<li>VI &#8211; Thou Shalt Protect Your E-Mail<\/li>\n<li>VII &#8211; Thou Shalt Use Unique User Names<\/li>\n<li>VIII &#8211; Thou Shalt Protect Your Finances<\/li>\n<li>IX &#8211; Thou Shalt Not Stay Signed In<\/li>\n<li>X &#8211; Thou Shalt Follow a Risk-Based Approach for Passwords<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I still stand by all of these recommendations, but in this post, I want to focus on IV &#8211; constructing secure passwords and PINs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Easy Method for Constructing Secure Passwords<\/h2>\n<p>As discussed in the original post, longer passwords are more secure.\u00a0 This is a simple way to generate entire groups of passwords that are easy to remember, but hard to guess, and difficult to crack.<\/p>\n<h3>Step 1:\u00a0 Imagine a Family of Four<\/h3>\n<p>Create an imaginary dad, mom, son, and daughter.\u00a0 Give each of them an imaginary name &#8211; don&#8217;t use real-world names that would be easy to guess if someone looks at your facebook.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Password Group<\/th>\n<th>Example Name<\/th>\n<th>Use Case<\/th>\n<th>Risk Level<\/th>\n<th>Example Uses<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Dad<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Robert<\/td>\n<td>Financial institutions such as banks, online stock trading, etc<\/td>\n<td>Highest<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Online Banking<\/li>\n<li>Online Stock Trading<\/li>\n<li>Mortgage website<\/li>\n<li>Credit Union website<\/li>\n<li>Car loan website<\/li>\n<li>Credit Card website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Mom<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Sarah<\/td>\n<td>Email<\/td>\n<td>High<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>E-mail website<\/li>\n<li>Multiple e-mail accounts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Son<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Timothy<\/td>\n<td>Online transactions<\/td>\n<td>Medium<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Amazon<\/li>\n<li>TEMU<\/li>\n<li>Shipping (UPS \/ FedEx)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Daughter<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Sharon<\/td>\n<td>Everything Else<\/td>\n<td>Low<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Streaming sites<\/li>\n<li>Discord<\/li>\n<li>Facebook<\/li>\n<li>iLikeCats.com (not real)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Each member of the family represents a different security level, where dad deals ONLY with the movement and management of money, mom deals ONLY with email, son deals ONLY with online transactions, and daughter deals with everything else.<\/p>\n<h3>Step 2:\u00a0 Invent Personalities<\/h3>\n<p>For each imaginary person, invent a background:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Things they like and dislike<\/li>\n<li>Things they do<\/li>\n<li>Food they eat<\/li>\n<li>Hobbies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Password Group<\/th>\n<th>Example Name<\/th>\n<th>Example Background<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Dad<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Robert<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Hobby is bird-watching<\/li>\n<li>Likes breakfast<\/li>\n<li>Works at a grocery store<\/li>\n<li>Hates yard work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Mom<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Sarah<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Hobby is knitting and sewing<\/li>\n<li>Likes swimming and jogging<\/li>\n<li>Works at the library<\/li>\n<li>Loves gardening<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Son<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Timothy<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Likes dinosaurs and rockets<\/li>\n<li>Hates school<\/li>\n<li>Plays sports<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Daughter<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Sharon<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Likes cats<\/li>\n<li>Likes desert<\/li>\n<li>Plays music<\/li>\n<li>Hates exercise<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>This is a form of a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Method_of_loci\">memory palace<\/a>, which is a way of organizing information so that it can be easily remembered.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, rather than a physical (or imaginary) place, we are using an imaginary family.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Step 3:\u00a0 Construct Passwords<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Pick the appropriate family member<\/li>\n<li>Pick a verb<\/li>\n<li>Pick a noun<\/li>\n<li>Use capital letters, and possibly numbers as letter substitutions<\/li>\n<li>Pick a set of symbols.\u00a0 For example, maybe dad always uses ! and mom always uses $<\/li>\n<li>Pick a set of numbers.\u00a0 For example, maybe mom always uses 9 and son uses 7<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Person<\/th>\n<th>Password Primitive<\/th>\n<th>Examples<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Dad<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Dad!Verb!Noun<br \/>\nNumber: 2<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Robert!Eats!2Eggs<\/li>\n<li>Robert!Goes2!Work<\/li>\n<li>Robert!Likes!Owls22<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Mom<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Mom$Verb$Noun<br \/>\nNumber: 9<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Sarah$Goes$Postal99<\/li>\n<li>Sarah$9Reads$Books<\/li>\n<li>Sarah$Grows99$Plants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Son<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Son#Verb#Noun<br \/>\nNumber: 7<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Timothy#Loves#7TRex<\/li>\n<li>Timothy#Hates77#Math<\/li>\n<li>Timothy#7Plays#Baseball<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Daughter<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>Daughter:Verb:Noun<br \/>\nNumber: 4<\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Sharon:Loves:Cake44<\/li>\n<li>Sharon:4Plays:Drums<\/li>\n<li>Sharon4:Hates:Jogging<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>This simple framework gives you the ability to generate unlimited passwords.\u00a0 As long as you can remember a few simple hints, you might not even have to write them down or remember them explicitly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Life-Changing Password Advice I had previously written the Password Commandments I &#8211; Thou Shalt Not Use Biometric Security II &#8211; Thou Shalt Log In to Your Computer III &#8211; Thou Shalt Secure Your Smart Phone IV &#8211; Thou Shalt Construct Secure PINs and Passwords V &#8211; Thou Shalt Protect Your Identity VI &#8211; Thou Shalt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-other-stuff","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8218"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8225,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8218\/revisions\/8225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justinparrtech.com\/JustinParr-Tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}