With the emphasis of Windows 8 on “touch”, it should come as no surprise that one of its features include that of creating a picture password.

Ask any user how easy it is to enter an alphanumeric string on their mobile, and since Windows 8 aims at working across all devices, it’s also a reason Windows expects its users to switch to the use of a picture password as opposed to traditional ones.

With that said, and even though this might be new for some desktop users, the picture (or gesture) password is definitely a convenient and secure way of logging into your PC.

But how does one create a strong Windows 8 Picture Password?

The reason for this question is because researchers at the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study where hackers could use smudge marks to decipher one’s picture password.

Since picture passwords are all about gestures, probably the simplest thing to keep in mind is that “taps” should be avoided in favor of lines and circles, of which the latter two capture both positional and directional data.

Simply, in order to login to your computer, a user will have to know the start and end point as well as the direction of the gestures used, and which is much more difficult to determine as opposed to simple taps.

Also, avoid creating gestures that follow the obvious contours of an image, such as circling a face and creating lines between two landmarks.

It’s vital to pick a picture with strong contrast so as to pick bright reference points that will help you create a complex series of gestures that will not be easy to decipher.

In any case, if all else fails, you still have the text password option available at the top right hand corner of your screen, which you can use.