Passwords 101

Here's some of the best advice on passwords I've found. It comes from Steve Bass at PC World, who starts off with this tip:

Change your email account password if you are going away and using public PCs in Internet cafes or libraries. Then change it again when you get home. That way, if the systems are infested with spyware and keylogger programs, which track keystrokes (including passwords), hackers will have short-term access to your email password.

He dispatches the tried-and-true counsel to mix up letters, symbols and numbers when creating passwords. But he also recommends some password-creation software:

• The WinGuides Network Web-based tool that you can download here.

• Steve Gibson's Perfect Passwords, which provides unique, "high-quality, cryptographic-strength password strings" every time someone clicks on the site.

• RoboForm—Bass' personal favorite, it creates passwords and securely remembers them. Hands down, it's the best tool for storing all your user ID and password data for Web sites, he writes. High praise.

You can find a trial version of the $30 program in PC World's Downloads library. There's also a USB version of RoboForm, called Pass2Go, that allows you to use your passwords on someone else's PC without leaving your password info on the PC.

Some good advice, especially since the little notebook I keep my passwords in is getting full. How do you manage your passwords?