Simply put, adding length increases entropy. This translates to how computationally difficult a password is to crack. The reason has everything to do with password entropy: a representation of how much uncertainty there is in a password. People often think of a short set of random characters like "*K>#)0$j4" as super secure, but a long string of memorable words like "golfkangaroocrispyhalitosis" can actually be just as strong! Dictionary attacks can crack different passwords than brute-force attacks. The truth here is that password security depends heavily on the attack method. Don't use the same word as your username, or any variation of it.Don't use names of spouses, children, girlfriends/boyfriends or pets.Your name, birthday, driver's license, passport number, or similar information. Examples: 12345678, 222222, abcdefg, or adjacent letters on your keyboard (qwerty). Words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and abbreviations.Don't use only letters or only numbers.You get the idea.Īvoid creating passwords that use any or all of the following: Horrifyingly, 2516 Gawker account holders used "123456" as a password, while another 2188 used "password" for a password. Don't make it easy for someone to crack your password!įor example, a couple of years back Gawker Media got hacked. Hackers use sophisticated automated tools that can rapidly decipher passwords, such as John The Ripper. Cybercriminals steal passwords on websites that have very little security, and then they use that same password and user name in more secure environments, such as banking websites. Don't use the same password for everything. Set an automatic reminder for yourself to change your passwords on your email, banking, and credit card websites about every three months. To keep strong passwords effective, change them often. However, password hacking software automatically checks for common letter-to-symbol conversions, such as changing "and" to "&" or "to" to "2." The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better. Use the entire keyboard, not just the letters and characters you use or see most often. Include letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers. Make your passwords long, they should be at LEAST 12 characters long and preferably more. Some or all might help protect your online transactions: Here are steps you can take to create a strong password.
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