When choosing a password you should NOT do the following:
- Using a very common password, such as “password”, “123456” and “qwerty” for example.
- Using short passwords. The password should be at least twelve characters long.
- Using a dictionary word for a password.
- Using identical password for different services, for example for other e-mail services, for forum registrations, for online banking etc.
- Using passwords all in upper-case or all in lower-case letters. It is a good practice to use both upper- and lower-case letters in the password, as well as other characters, such as a hyphen, a dot, an underscore and digits.
- Using repeating characters, for example having passwords like “1111qqqq”.
- Using passwords containing characters that are located next to one another on the keyboard, for example asdfgh, 654321, qweasd etc.
- Using passwords similar to the username, for example having username/password combination such as webmaster/webmaster12
Why does it matter?
Weak passwords allow hackers and spammers to easily use your e-mail account to send spam, which causes disruptions to mail service (delivery and speed) for all customers who are on your server.