Why do some secure websites require passwords with letters and numbers ? Why not just letters? After all, the possible combinations of six or more times 26 letters are vastly more than that of single numbers: that's why, for example, car numbers in the UK are 6 letters with just two numbers (and those only to show which half-year of which year the car was registered)

Any password that appears in a dictionary is not difficult to break. "Crack" code software can race through the list in just minutes and break the code.

A password with at least 8 characters including numbers, upper and lower case, and punctuation is very difficult to break. Depending on the need for security, use the "stronger" passwords.

I'm sure we've all seen sites that require a very strong password even though the site doesnt't contain any sensitive information. I think this is just a case of security administrators dizzy with their sense of power. If the site requires it though, there is little you can do about it.

I know I have trouble remembering all the username/password combinations. On sites that don't contain any information that I'm concerned about, I use one standard password for them all. On sites with more sensitive information, I employ the stronger passwords, based on a "system" of my own which makes it easier for me to remember.

Dwight