Do you use the Internet? According to a 2021 Pew Research survey, 75% of adults 65 and older said they were Internet users: emailing friends, following social media, accessing financial information, shopping online, or checking health information – all sensitive online information you want to protect.

There are many ways to increase your online security, Password Managers or Multi-Factor Authorization, but the first place to start is to make sure you have a strong password.

Most passwords are made up of letters, numbers, and symbols to confirm you are who you say you are—when you’re using a computer system. But it can be overwhelming trying to remember all of them!

So what do most of us do – or at least I do? We use the same password for all our online accounts. But you can see the risk. If someone steals your password for one account, they can access all your other accounts. Not good.

So what are some tips and tricks to create a strong unique password that can keep the bad guys away from your online information?

Use long password combinations consisting of a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols. They should be at least 12 characters long, although it is recommended to use ones that are even longer.

Your passwords should not be based on your personal information: a nickname, your date of birth, or your pet’s name.

And a good password should be unique for each online account.

Here is a good example of a strong password: X5j13$#eCM1cG@Kdc. But who is going to remember that? Not me!

To create passwords that are easier to remember and still strong try these suggestions.

Use the Sentence Method. Choose a sentence, phrase, or a quote and take the first letters from that phrase and add numbers and punctuation to generate a seemingly random combination of characters. For example: “One for all and all for one”: The Three Musketeers becomes 14A&A413Mu$keteers!

Use the Dictionary Method. Choose a few words from the dictionary and string them together along with numbers and symbols. You could use ocean, beach, wind, sand to create the secure password: Ocean%Wind7Beach/Sand4

And as I mentioned, your password should be unique for every account. So rather than creating a whole new password for each account, simply add a different code to your password. For example, building on the above password, your Apple account password would be Ocean%Wind7Beach/Sand4APPL and your Google account password would be Ocean%Wind7Beach/Sand4GOOG.

Finally, a couple of suggestions from personal experience. Make sure you set up your security questions for your most sensitive online accounts, so when you forget your password, which you will do, you’ll be able to answer the questions to create a new password. And make sure someone you trust knows where you keep your passwords in case something happens to you.

Data leaks happen every day, and the next one could have your password in it. To protect your online information, a strong password is your first line of defense.

Brain Tease: Find the third word that is associated with a given pair of words. For the words PIANO and LOCK, the answer is KEY. Enjoy.

1. SHIP — CARD; 2. TREE — CAR; 3. SCHOOL — EYE; 4. PILLOW — COURT

The name of the competition where boys and girls would race down Akron, Ohio’s world-famous Derby Downs’ hill was the Soap Box Derby. I received correct answers from Billie Maxwell, Chuck Rice, Rhonda Spies, Lana Tepfer, Maria Kollas, Keith Clymer, and Pat Evenson-Brady this week’s winner of a quilt raffle ticket. 

This television series was a must-see for many of us when it aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983. For this week’s “Remember When” question, what was the name of this war comedy-drama television series that included an ensemble of memorable characters: “Hawkeye” Pierce, “Trapper” John, Frank Burns, Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, Henry Blake, “Radar” O’Reilly, Maxwell Klinger, and Father Mulcahy. Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788, or mail it with a DVD of the 1970 movie on which the television series was based.

Well, it’s been another week, avoiding the potholes of life.  Until we meet again, don’t let the rotten apples spoil your day.

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” Douglas Adams

Answers: Deck; Trunk; Pupil; Case