9 tips for creating passwords that send hackers away–PLUS 5 points to remember when selling your home

To keep hackers out of your systems, never click on suspicious links or attachments, even from friends. But it's even more important to manage your passwords. Here's what internet security experts say we should do: 1. Use nothing from the dictionary. If your password is in the dictionary, it's no barrier at all. Even if you make  changes to a real word, hackers can still breach it. 2. Use a "passphrase." The longer the password, the harder it is to crack. One that's 14 characters or more is ideal. But long passwords are hard to remember, so think of a phrase–a favorite song lyric, movie quote, or poem, then use only the first few letters of each word for your "passphrase." 3. Try gibberish. Randomly run over your keyboard, hitting Shift and Alt/Option keys every once in a while. Copy each of these gibberish passwords into a text file and put it on an encrypted, password-protected USB drive. The best passwords have a random selection of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and keyboard symbols, like "%" and "+". 4. Store passwords securely. Never store your passwords on your computer. If it's hacked, all your accounts will be compromised. Store passwords on an encrypted USB drive with a long password you memorize, then copy and paste them into accounts to prevent keystroke logging software from getting them. Or simply keep password hints (not the passwords) on a piece of paper in your wallet. 5. Never use a password twice. Hackers love it when people use the same password for lots of sites. Once they get into your LinkedIn account, they'll try for your bank account. Make sure it's different. 6. Give crazy answers to security questions. It's not hard for hackers to find the real answers to these questions. So when accounts ask, "What high school did you attend?" make your answer something like, "The sky in Nebraska." But be sure to remember it! 7. Use more than one browser. Pick one browser for casual surfing – news, hobbies, forums, and blogs. Use another for social nets. Then choose a third to use only for the important stuff – online banking, bill paying, and e-mails. Then close it when you're done using it. 8. Pass on those password managers. There are password protection and password management programs available, but, remember, they still reside on the computer. If it's stolen, you've lost your passwords. Also, hackers have cracked some of this software. 9. Be careful about sharing. Try not to register for online accounts with your real e-mail address. You can get "throwaway" e-mail addresses at sites like 10minutemail.com, which self-destruct in 10 minutes. Consider everything you share online as public record.