Secure passwords are generally hard to remember. So you end up writing them down. Dumb idea.

Here is a tip for a creating a password which is unbreakable and unforgettable. The trick is a twist on what British SIS Agents used in WW II for their one-time pad encryption.

Pick a memorable sentence or two from a poem (could also be a biblical passage, or a paragraph from a great book you love). Here is an example from W.H. Auden's, "In Memory of W. B. Yeats"

O all the instruments agree

The day of his death was a dark cold day.

Take the first (or second or third letter) of each word in the case (upper or lower) used plus punctuation. In the above example I will take the first letter:

O a t i a T do h d w a d c d .

Your password then is OatiaTdhdwadcd.

Besides letters and punctuation if your favouite phrase contains the word “for”, “fore” and “four” you might substitute the numeral “4” or the same with the word “to”, too and two”, substituting the numeral “2”. Don’t get too cute; you may forget the cute stuff, with a poem you have access to the original on the Internet.

Example: "Four score and seven years ago..." might become...

4s&7ya

Easy, basically unbreakable and unforgettable. Tighten up your Skype security starting today.

Good Skyping...