Hey guys! Since passwords act as the very key to our online privacy, I thought I'd share a guide and some helpful tips for creating a powerhouse password! Below is Ramesh Natarajan's "Ultimate Guide for Creating Strong Passwords":
I. Two essential password rules: Following two rules are bare minimal that you should follow while creating a password.
Rule 1 – Password Length: Stick with passwords that are at least 8 characters in length. The more character in the passwords is better, as the time taken to crack the password by an attacker will be longer. 10 characters or longer are better.
Rule 2 – Password Complexity: Should contain at least one character from each of the following group. At least 4 characters in your passwords should be each one of the following.
1. Lower case alphabets
2. Upper case alphabets
3. Numbers
4. Special Characters
The above two rules combined as “8 4 Rule” (Eight Four Rule):
8 = 8 characters minimum length
4 = 1 lower case + 1 upper case + 1 number + 1 special character.
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| Cartoon courtesy of Chris Slane |
II. Passwords you should not even consider using:
1. Password same as username or part of the username
2. Name of family members, friends or pets.
3. Personal information about yourself or family members. i.e. birth date, phone number, vehicle license plate number, street name, apartment/house number etc.
4. Sequences. for e.g. abcde, 12345, qwert.
5. Dictionary words. Dictionary words with number or character in front or back
6. Real word from any language
7. Word found in dictionary with number substitution for word look alike. for e.g. Replacing the letter O with number 0. i.e passw0rd.
8. Any of the above in reverse sequence
9. Any of the above with a number in front or back.
10. Empty password
Source: TheGeekStuff
