Information Technology
Your PC and Internet Transactions
Posted by cosmic • Filed under InformationTechnology, Internet
Your PC and Internet Transactions
Create Strong Passwords
Strong passwords are important for protecting your online transactions. Attacks using stolen passwords occur more often than you may think. If you do not take care to choose a strong password and protect it, this could happen to you!
A strong password is a password that is virtually impossible for a hacker to figure out or crack using brute force methods.
The strength of a password is a function of length, complexity, and unpredictability.
A good, strong, password should consist of many, if not all of the following:
Length and Complexity
An ideal password is long and has letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers.
Whenever possible, use at least 14 characters or more.
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.
Create a strong password you can remember.
Here is one way that may make remembering it easier
Start with a sentence or two (about 10 words total) - Think of something meaningful to you.
Turn your sentences into a row of letters - Use the first letter of each word.
Add complexity - Make only the letters in the first half of the alphabet uppercase.
Add length with numbers - Put two numbers that are meaningful to you between the sentences.
Add length with punctuation - Put a punctuation mark at the beginning.
Add length with symbols - Put a symbol at the end.
Protect your passwords from prying eyes
The easiest way to "remember" passwords is to write them down.
It is okay to write passwords down, but keep them secure.
Cyber criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly decipher passwords
Avoid creating passwords using:
Dictionary words in any language.
Words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and abbreviations.
Sequences or repeated characters (eg 1234, 222, abcd, or adjacent letters (qwerty).
Personal information - Your name, birthday, driver's license, or similar information.
| How Long Will It Take For Hackers To Crack Your Password? | |||
| Length | lowercase | +UppeRcaSe | + No. 2 & Symbols? |
| 6 Characters | 10 minutes | 10 hours | 18 days |
| 7 Characters | 4 hours | 23 days | 4 years |
| 8 Characters | 4 days | 3 years | 463 years |
| 9 Characters | 4 months | 178 years | 44,530 years |
Please Note: Strong passwords are not a substitute for good computer security practices! Strong passwords can still be captured by some types of malware designed to capture key strokes and stored passwords on the computer.
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