The following guidelines are offered to assist in this area. Avoid Obvious Passwords - Don't use your name or obvious words such as computer, Macintosh, or Baylor as passwords. Ideally, real words should not be used as passwords. Use Long Passwords - Passwords on most systems must be at least six characters in length. Even if the system does not impose such a restriction, this is the recommended minimum length.
Longer passwords are even better as they are harder to guess by trial and error.
Don't Write Your Password Down - A written password is more easily discovered than one committed to memory. If you must write down a password, make sure that it is recorded in a secure location. Never leave a written password in places such as on the monitor or the underside of the keyboard where it is easily found. Do not save or cache passwords. Caching or saving passwords allows anyone with a simple program to extract all the passwords stored on your system.