How important are passwords?

Passwords can be a very effective security measure, but you need to adopt sensible strategies to make sure strangers can't guess yours easily.

Use as many different passwords as you're comfortable with - and you can remember! That way, if someone guesses or steals one, they won't have access to everything.
Change your passwords regularly. It's a good idea to have an alert set to remind you to change them all on one day, say, every 60 days.
Don't use obvious choices such as your maiden name, your date of birth, your licence plate or the word 'password'.
Try to use odd combinations of numbers and letters in upper and lower case, rather than ordinary dictionary words.
Try not to share your passwords with other people.
Experts recommend the use of a password safe or password manager, which helps to make managing multiple passwords easier. You can find this in some security software products.