n the digital age, passwords are a must. You need passwords to log into e-mail, online banking, discussion boards, shopping or auction sites. You probably need a password at work.

Passwords are often how you identify yourself online. Easily guessed passwords are invitations to hackers. A compromised password allows crooks to impersonate you online and gain access to your personal or financial information. At worst, weak passwords could expose you to identity theft.

So it's important to use strong passwords. But what makes a password strong? The following are key ingredients:

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Use at least eight characters; more is better
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Include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols
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Avoid names and dictionary words

You should end up with a password that looks random. Generally, the strongest type of password is a genuinely random password. A strong password might look like this:

IwIhl@M$bi86

But if you're like me, you probably won't be memorizing that kind of password anytime soon. The trick is to create a password that appears random yet is meaningful to you. And the trick is easier than you think.

First, think of a sentence or phrase that you can easily remember. Try to avoid famous quotes, which can be found easily on the Internet. Here's an example that works:

I wish I had looked at Microsoft stock back in 1986.

To turn the phrase into a password, use the first letter of each word:

IwIhlaMsbi1

If you've got at least eight characters and mixed-case letters, you've got a decent password. But does it have the ingredients of a strong password? Try tweaking your password to include numbers and symbols in a meaningful way. Here's my example with some improvements:

IwIhl@M$bi86

Your password should still be easy for you to recall so long as you remember your original sentence or phrase.

You can find out how difficult your password is for hackers by using a fun online tool called Password Calculator. It estimates how long your password could stand up to a common attack.

Finally, it's a good idea to use different passwords at different Web sites. You don't have to come up with a bunch of phrases to memorize. You can use yet another trick. Simply add one or two letters of the Web site's name to your strong password. Here are a couple examples using my password:

To log into Yahoo!, IwIhl@M$bi86Ya

To log into Amazon, IwIhl@M$bi86Am