How a password generator can help you create a strong password

Each day, our lives become more inseparable from the internet; we email instead of call, we stay in touch with social media, we shop online, bank online, etc. And each of our online accounts requires a password. We all know that choosing a strong password is important for internet security, but nonetheless many of us opt for weak passwords simply because they are easier to remember and keep track of. While it is inconvenient to create very strong passwords, the potential fallout from having your accounts hacked will be much more inconvenient. Don’t worry; after reading this article, you’ll be a pro when it comes to knowing whether a password is strong, and we’ll give you a handy secure password generator to take some of the guesswork out of creating a strong password.

Here are the top cyber security factors to make a strong password and accessing your accounts:

Longer is better

Depending on the hacking method used, a six-letter password, with no numbers or capital letters (“orange”, for example), may take up to 10 minutes to hack, or as little as 1 second if a fast attack hacking program is being used. By adding extra letters to our password (for example, “orangemarmelade”), it will now take months to hack, and adding numbers and special characters (“Orang3marme!ade”) will take centuries to crack, even using the most powerful hacking software. Put another way, changing “orange” to “oranges” will increase the amount of items a hacking program must search through 26 times, for 26 letters in the alphabet. But substituting a zero for the “o”, “0range” increases it 260 times (26 letters x 10 numbers), and “orange!” increases it up to 8,580 times! (26 letters x 10 numbers x up to 33 special characters).

No names, please

Don’t use your name, first, last or middle, as your password. The three passwords that a hacker will try first is, “password”, “123456” and different combinations of your name. Same goes for the names of family members, pets, friends, etc. A lot of this information is easy for hackers to find and they won’t hesitate to use it against you.

“S” is for Secure

A strong password is no good if you transmit it willy-nilly. Only send sensitive information if you’re on a secure connection. A secure connection will say either “HTTPS” (as opposed to HTTP) or “SFTP” (as opposed to FTP). These connections are encrypted and much more difficult to hack than their counterparts.

To change, or not to change?

The standard recommendation is to change your passwords every 8-12 weeks. If you’re using a good random password generator to create strong passwords all the time, and storing them safely (see #13), then changing passwords regularly is a good security measure. If, however, changing passwords often will just make you go back to weaker, easy to remember passwords, like your pet’s name, don’t bother. It’s better to have a really strong password, and keep it forever, than to have a new weak password every 3 months.

Don’t lose your passwords

Encrypt and store your passwords in a few different locations. That way, if you lose access to your computer or account, you can get your passwords back quickly and easily.

Two heads are better than one

If your account has the option, turn on 2-step verification. This adds an extra layer of security by not only requiring you to enter your password correctly, but also entering a code that the system will send to your email, SMS text messages, mobile or landline phone. This way, even if a hacker gets access to your password, your account will still be protected because he doesn’t have access to your phone or email account