Never use your dog's name as your password. Don't use your middle name, either. And never, ever use your Social Security number as the secret key to your site. You probably already know these simple rules for making up a strong password, but it's easier said than done.

Coming up with hard-to-guess passwords is a challenge, but it's even harder to have different passwords for different sites and to remember new ones after you change them. Creating a tough password to crack is an important part of security these days, and it's something that every IT manager and security professional should enforce.

It's not good enough to change your password every three months. An insecure password is one easy way to get hacked and for your network to be corrupted. Here are few tips on creating passwords:

• Come up with a phrase you can remember.
• Don't use the same password for every site.
• Use a password manager; there are several available programs.

For more on getting smart on picking a password:
- check out this CBSNews.com article

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