How Long Would It Take A Hacker To Discover Your Password?

[ladybirder]

According to this link, some of my passwords would take ..... wait for it .......
over 15 million years to crack (15,091,334 actually).

On the other hand, some would take only 3.5 minutes if your password is eight characters long and all lower-case, like “password,” it would take a hacker 3.5 minutes to guess it.

So how good are your passwords?

http://www.carbonblack.com/dont-be-cracked-the-math-behind-good-online-passwords-1/?ico=home

[DTCwordfan]

I'm now watching you on your webcam, ladybirder.....

[ladybirder]

Oooo how exciting, what can you see DTC? Have I been hacked?

[FredPuli43]

Thanks. I thought that the more characters the better and to avoid usual words was enough, so I chose the most obscure long word known in a dead language, so obscure that the original speakers of that language never used it. Didn't realise that having just one letter in upper case made such a difference.

Don't understand this hash thing. Surely you don't have to remember the hash? I'd never do it !

When I first had a computer, I chose a date, which was the wedding day and year of the first marriage of Francis I of France. Not very secure, and I had to keep going to an encyclopedia or Google it, every time I forgot it, which was frequently ! LOL

[Old_Geezer]

They vary depending on how likely someone would want to use it and the problems it'd give me. What one has to remember is that the harder the password is to hit upon by random the more unmemorable it is likely to be and so the more likely to be written down and possibly stolen.

[ladybirder]

Yes fred I was amazed at the difference with one upper case letter, especially if it's not the initial one I bet.

OG I read somewhere that using the initials of a line from a favourite book or poem is a good place to start. Or perhaps someone special said something really nice to you and again use the initials. Then make one or more of them capitals, add in a number or two plus a £@ or & and then the hard bit - to remember it!

[wildwood]

I have a whole list of passwords. A different one for each site where I need to login to proceed. They are in an different language and back to front, always with some digits.

You can never totally prevent someone from generating your password, so with any financial or sensitive info, always make sure you are on a secure site.

It doesn't hurt to write a list - don't make it with the computer concerned - with all your passwords and keep it somewhere handy. The password for banks etc. should never be written down.

I do not understand the capital and lower case thing. I frequently find that the password requirement is not case-sensitive.

[ladybirder]

Wildwood I think you may well be correct in that all sites aren't case sensitive now you come to mention it. One that is though is PayPal, I've just tried it.

After reading this article I shall change some of mine to something more difficult next time I go in.

[ladybirder]

Hmmm, doesn't look as if this site is case sensitive.

[beso]

It is hard to break into a specific account. Most that matter have a limit on the number of failed attempts before they disable logins.

However hackers get around this by using a short list of weak passwords and try them against vast numbers of logins. They often don't care what account they break.