We use passwords for just about everything these days. The problem is, that fact alone causes us to become lazy and use the same passwords for multiple sites and logins, and then leaving them the same for long periods of time. Hackers, or people who want to gain access to a system usin gyour identity, rely on these practices and strike whenever they get an opportunity. The following are some best practive guidelines to follow regarding password security.

Rotate passwords frequently. Once per month is a good rule of thumb. The reason is, believe it or not, there are programs out on the internet trying to crack your password every day. They use "brute-force" and go through a list of word/number combos constantly. The general rule of thumb is, if you stay in one place too long, you'll eventually get caught.

Don't write them down in plain sight. Under your keyboard is also not a great idea as that's the first place most people look for a password.

If you must write them down, write down something slightly different that only you'll know. For example, if you have two kids (Stacey & Peter) and your password is stacey123, write down peter123. Only you will know!

Don't just add a number to the end when it's time to change it. Why? Well, if somebody else ever does get your password, even if it's completely innocent like you had to give it to them on a day off so they could find a file... if you just add a new number every month, they'll be able to figure out the password easily.

Don't use the same password for all systems. If somebody does manage to get your password for the network, do you really want them to also be able to access your bank account, Facebook account, store accounts, etc. Use variations, not exact matches.