Additionally, you can test the strength of new or existing credentials with the free Password Strength Tester.A Password Generator is a specialized tool designed to create complex, random, and highly secure passwords. You can easily build stronger passwords by using the Bitwarden Password Generator, a free and secure online tool designed to generate complex passwords for every account with customization options to support any site’s password policies.

Using an automated password generator ensures that your password is both strong and truly unique.

A recent report demonstrates how common this poor practice is by revealing that 9 out of 10 users reuse passwords across multiple sites. Further exacerbating this threat is if the same password is used for multiple accounts to save someone from remembering various log-in credentials. Successful phishing attacks are a common cause of data breaches, and the easier it is to remember a password, the easier it is to disclose it to an unauthorized party. Understanding and mitigating the risksīrute force attacks are not the only reason for account hacking. Lots of math can come into play, but in general, longer and more unique characters create stronger passwords. One such password is `1qaz2wsx3edc4rfv5tgb6yhn7ujm8ik,9ol.0p /`, which, despite being thirty-four characters in length, would be among the first couple of thousand attempts by a brute force hacker (you will see why if you look at your keyboard). Likewise, some very long passwords appear in password dumps with remarkable frequency. Here’s an example of a randomly generated passphrase using the free web-based Bitwarden Password Generator:Īnother way to strengthen passwords is to avoid commonly-used dictionary words or repeated or sequential characters, such as “secret”. Using a passphrase helps as it combines memorable words or phrases known to the user but less recognizable by hackers. When password complexity meets randomnessĪ password’s overall randomness also contributes to better password security, and passphrases are an easy way to achieve that. Now, rather than one million possible combinations, 2,176,782,336 possible combinations exist for a six-character password. However, a six-character password consisting of numbers and lowercase letters has thirty-six options for each character (0 – 9 plus a – z). If a password is six numerical characters in length, a hacker can attempt one million possible combinations (10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10). It is also recommended that the mix of characters be completely random and unrelated to your personal information.Ī password consisting exclusively of numerical characters has only ten possible options for each character (0 – 9).

In general, a wider spectrum of letters plus numbers, capital letters, and special characters will increase complexity and strengthen your passwords. Some websites and services require numbers, capital letters, and special characters. Do I need to use numbers, capital letters, and special characters?

Good 15 character passwords