It is often said that passwords should be random and complex. I agree. Nonetheless, your password should be carefully thought out. Your password should make sense — but it should make sense to you only.

For example, does "hast2hucaspk" make any sense to you? Of course, not. But it does make complete sense to me. There is absolutely no way that anyone could easily guess a password like that.

Quite a lot of users still do not understand how to choose a strong password. If your password partly or wholly contains dictionary-based words and/or personally identifiable information such as your name (or nickname), phone number, address, date of birth, etc, you may want to change it right-away.

I know, it's easy for you to remember that way, but you also make it easy for someone to break into your account via password guessing.

Even when you sign up for an online service and you are requested to select a secret question and provide an answer, it is still advisable to use a strong password.

For instance, "What is the name of your favourite movie?" You do not necessarily have to provide the actual name of your favourite movie. If you do, social engineering is all it would take to break into your account.

Social engineering involves manipulating someone into revealing private info. You could even be tricked by someone very close to you!

You can easily create a strong password, using mnemonics. In the example above, "hast2hucaspk" was derived from the first letter of each word in "Here Are Some Tips To Help You Choose A Strong Private Key"

You will always remember such a password without having to put it down somewhere, and it will be very difficult for someone to figure it out — as long as you also take basic security precautions including, but not limited to, making sure that you only log in to secure websites (https) over a secure Internet connection.

Password length matters too. The recommended minimum password length is eight characters. The lengthier, the better. If there is an option to enable two-factor authentication for your online accounts, consider enabling it.

Source: http://sholadaitman.com/2016/01/password-hacking-and-you-secure-password-guidelines/