Thanks to powerful password-cracking software that is readily available online, hackers can guess a five-character password in under three hours. If you only use lowercase letters, it’s 11.9 seconds.
You KNOW you need to have a better password than “password” if you want to keep hackers out of your computer, but what does a “strong” password mean?
A good password:
- Should be at least eight characters long (or longer!)
- Should have a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols that are hard to guess.
- Should NOT use dictionary words with proper capitalization because they’re easy to guess (like Password123#). Even though it meets the requirements we just discussed, it’s easily hacked. Remember, hackers have sophisticated password-hacking software that will run 24x7x365.
If you want a quick tip for remembering your password, use a phrase and insert letters and numbers into it, like $h@KeNb8ke.
To learn more about creating strong passwords, download our Complex Password Guide (PDF).