If you have a website or use the internet, you probably know by now how important it is to use strong passwords.
There’s a reason that websites require increasingly longer passwords, and require you to update them from time to time… HACKERS!
Earlier this week, I noticed that many of my clients’ websites saw a huge increase in login attempts. One in particular had over 1,800 attempts in a 24-hour period. That is called a brute force attack, and if your passwords are weak, you’re cooked. 🍳
That’s why it’s SO important to use strong passwords.
Here’s how strong your passwords should be…
👌 Good
12 characters, with a combination of numbers, upper & lowercase letters, and symbols is the minimum suggested password length. If you have passwords shorter than 12 digits, I highly recommend increasing their length.
🎯 Better
16 characters, with a combination of numbers, upper & lowercase letters, and symbols.
🔒 Best (my personal recommendation)
18+ characters. The longer, the better…and with that, comes less need for symbols, multi-case letters, etc. Based on the chart below, you can make your passwords virtually unhackable* (*these are current best practices, but there is NO 100% guarantee).
The table below shows how long it takes to hack passwords based on specific variables.
✨ Tip: “Rather than pushing complexity, the guidelines emphasize password length. Why? Because longer passwords are way harder to crack with brute-force attacks, and they’re usually easier to remember than convoluted combinations.”
~ NIST (National institute of Standards and Technology) data via Scytale
Feel free to email me if you have a question; I’m always happy to help!
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