Over the past few weeks, there’s
been a lot of people who had an online account password cracked. I
begin to wonder how strong their old passwords were, and how secure
the new one is. In this day and age, passwords being stolen is a
bigger security risk instead of actually hacking into a home PC.
With almost everything being done online, a secure password is the
best defense you can have to keep your accounts safe.
Now, password creating can be
broken down into four main categories. The first is avoid common
passwords that any password cracking tool can do within minutes. The
second is try not using the same password for everything. The third
is to make them strong enough that unless they really want in, most
people would give up. The final categories is writing them down.
The first one sadly is still
being practiced. A common password is passwords that is so generic,
people can type them into any site to access an account with seconds.
The most infamous example is the word password. This one is so
overused that some sites will reject any password that even resembles
the word (Example: P@ssw0rd). Another bad example is typing across a
row of the keyboard such as qwertyuiop . I will not deny for accounts
that I use for purely junk emails, I’ve used some of the passwords
on the list linked below. However, if someone really wants my junk
email that bad, they can have it. The accounts were mostly created
because a site I was one really wanted an email , so losing them is
not the end of the world.
.
Now, here’s where the fun
begins. There are so many methods out there about creating a strong
password that a Google search pulls over a million results. Overall,
they all have the same guidelines which I’m now presenting below:
1) Minimum of ten characters.
Some sites will go lower to say eight, but the more characters a
password has, the longer it takes to crack.
2) Use a combination of capital
letters, lower case letters, symbols, and numbers. Again, some sites
say one of each, but the more you use, the tougher the password
comes. The longest I will go is 15 total.
3) Avoid using common knowledge
things, such as names, places, etc. None of my passwords for the
things I absolutely want to keep locked have even my pets’ names.
4) Be random. Even a random
phrase can make all the difference.
Here’s
a few examples of what is considered
a strong password:
Mar0oNEl#ph@nt5^
Mar0oNEl#ph@nt5^
G$56ghty&()&)*fTgh
Ir3allyloveb@gels2
Un!c0rnsF@rtSR0cK
If
you want to get a rough idea how strong your passwords are, check
out this
link below:
The final advise is write them
down on paper, and store them somewhere safe. I know it’s easier to
have the PC remember them, but the only downside is software and/or
hardware will fail without warning. Then you’ll have to spend all
day trying to either remember them, or go through the whole reset
process. With having them offline on paper, you can get back into
accounts within minutes instead of wasting a whole day trying to get
back in. I have mine printed out because to be honest, I can’t
remember them since mine can be that complex. In conclusion, if the
password is so unique that you can’t memorize it, the less chances
of it being cracked.
