Are you one of those wizards whose Internet banking password is 'Password123'? You are in August company.

Most don't seem to have the patience to create an elaborate password. Your Internet banking account is only as secure as its password. A weak password exposes it to strangers and hackers.

If you love the ease of online transactions, you have to learn the ropes of basic online security, in your own interest.

Here are a few tips for creating and more importantly, remembering a secure password.

Your name is a No! No

Your name, surname, pet name, names of your kids, your birthday, your employee number, your car's number plate, and your account number, are all easy to guess. Avoid them completely.

Don't create lazy passwords. To make passwords strong, complicate them with capitals and small letters; use numbers and characters such as !@#$% ^&*() .

Go Algo, and remember it

Create an algorithm. It could be important dates, the first line of your favourite song or your favourite movie. Like 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', will get you '1F^TCNest'.

Don't scramble around wondering if 'F' was capital or if it was 'o' or '0' or '1'. Have an algo and always apply it.

For example, one number, one character, beginning with caps and ending with the last word in full. Use the algo to reset and change passwords. Don't discuss your algorithm, it is the formula to your password.

Learn to differentiate

There are passwords to your Yahoo and Hotmail accounts and there are passwords to your bank account. Don't sweat over the small stuff. If your friend logged in to read your mail, you may at the most lose a friend; if someone logs in to sweep off your cash, you lose both the money and the friend. Keep your critical passwords strictly confidential.

Also, avoid typing a password in front of someone. Passwords like 'qwerty123456' are so easy for peepers to figure. Avoid strokes to adjacent keys that can be cracked by mere observation.

The longer, the better

Short passwords can be easily assaulted. Hackers routinely crack up to six characters. If your algo is a good one, remembering may not be tough. 'Raindrops keep falling on my head and I want to steal your umbrella' can become a superb password -- RkFoMh&Iw 2SyU.

Longer a password, the more secure it is. For, every extra character increases the potential for more possible combinations. Anyone who uses a combination of at least eight letters, numbers and special symbols make things hard for decryption software.