Coming up with a decent password can sometimes prove tricky, especially if you want said password to be secure and nigh on impossible to crack or, worse, guess.

But it is worth coming up with something strong, using tips like these, and then storing it in a password manager so that you can go on and make your other passwords just as secure too.

When you know that you have a strong and secure password for your computer or mobile device, or for the websites you visit online, you will have a sense of relief through knowing that, under normal circumstances, no-one but you will have access.

Circumstances are not always ideal though – things do go wrong. Sometimes companies are breached, as we’ve seen in the news lately, but at least in such a case you will know that it wasn’t your fault that the hackers got in.

But there is more you can do to keep your login credentials secure. It may seem obvious to say this but don’t give your secure password to anyone else because, if you do, it won’t be secure any longer. It pains me to say it but I’ve seen this simple piece of advice overlooked way too much recently.

Amongst family, friends and co-workers, I’ve seen email addresses, usernames and passwords shared around without a care in the world. On the face of it, that doesn’t sound so bad – after all, you would like to think that you can trust such people. But, equally, that trust can often be misplaced, either through the third party’s carelessness, or through malice.

Do you know anyone who has given their login credentials to a boyfriend or girlfriend, only to later split up and then find out that their accounts have been accessed by their ex because they forgot to change their passwords? I do. And it wasn’t pretty.

Worse, do you know anyone where you work who has shared their password around the office because it makes things ‘easier’? Dr. Jessica Barker does.

Or how about colleagues who have left the company and yet are still on the system and able to gain access months or even years later? That most certainly happens too.

So, whilst having a strong password, that is unique to every single account you use, is essential these days, it is only the beginning. Once you have come up with strong login credentials you need to keep them that way by not sharing them with anyone. Ever.

As has often been said, humans are generally the weak point when it comes to security and if there is one certainty about how they will act it is that they will do something unexpected at some point, including using someone else’s passwords for ease of use or more malicious purposes.