When punching in a password, block the view: you're not the only one who can recognize patterns. People have been known to read 11-digit telephone card codes being used at a pay phone across a crowded railway terminal, so it pays to be cautious. If you find you can't obscure the view completely, confuse the issue by lightly touching your fingers to (but not pressing) a few additional keys.

2torial #0499: Learn2 Choose and Use a Password (Continued) Preserve the password No matter how strong your memory--or how memorable your password--there's too much at stake to trust your recollection. Once decided upon and duly entered, the password should be written down in a safe but unobtrusive place. This can pose a problem. You might find it easier to remember a password than a set of directions to a secreted piece of paper, and besides, you're relying on the same memory to retain both pieces of information. That's why both password and hiding place are usually products of personality and force of habit, and why most would-be security crackers employ psychology as well as computer expertise. Here's a trick that often works: hide the access code in a place that's not hard to find, but in a form or context that makes it all but impossible to identify as the password. For example: let's say your password is "123Buttercup." You could place an entry in your address book listing a Ms. Morgenstern at 123 Buttercup Lane. Most prying persons won't know that Morgenstern was the name of your Computer Science teacher back in high school. Step 6