Passwords have been used to secure all kinds of information that require a degree of privacy. Until now, they are still the most widely used security method against blatant infiltrations, regardless if more and more innovations to obliterate memorizing passwords have been introduced in the tech sphere. Now that you still have to deal with those combination of alphanumeric characters and symbols, you should make sure that you keep them strong in order to protect whatever it is that others shouldn’t access.
According to one website, a strong password is at least eight characters long; does not contain your username, real name, or company name; does not contain a complete word; is significantly different from previous passwords; and contains characters coming from a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. However, just because you followed the said steps doesn’t mean that your password will already become crack-free. There is yet a cunning way to greatly augment your password’s strength without making things too complicated.
And here you go, the most important element of a strong password is password length. Some websites allow you to create passwords between 8 and 14 characters. Maxing out your password length can increase your odds of staying safe, provided you have followed the tips stated above. An 8-digit password can be cracked in less than a second, but a 14-digit one (using the same cracking software) will require 200,000 centuries to crack it. But wouldn’t setting your password 14 characters long will make it so difficult to remember? Well, it really would. As they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
At some point, it is a fact that the harder a password is to be remembered, the harder it is to crack. But what is the sense if you yourself can’t even seem to dig out what the password is from your recollection? So, this is a perfect case of an exemption to the rule. Steve Gibson, a security researcher, aims to solve the conundrum of people having to put up with less memorable passwords. He believes that a password easy to remember is equally secure than the otherwise if employed with wise strategies.
You need not to come up with a random combination of alphanumeric characters with symbols that may take weeks to remember but one bump on the head to forget; rather, the best thing to do is to make a conscious choice of characters and maximize the password with symbols. Here we have D0g!(!(!(!(!(! turning out to be more secure than PrXyc5NFn4k77. The fact that the former is one character longer makes it harder to crack, according to Gibson. The basic elements of a strong password is there (a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols; upper and lower case; and exceptional length), yet it makes a set of characters easier to remember.
So now, which of the two aforementioned passwords would you prefer having? If it’s convenience and security you’re after, then you have no reason not to practice the former. But if you want to put your memory to the test and have a complicated life, be my guest and go on with the latter. The choice is yours to make for as long as you stay digitally safe.