Creating Strong Passwords

Posted on December 9th, 2007. Written by Rico.

As Filipino users discover new websites and sign up for them, the need for a strong password becomes more crucial. Check out Microsoft’s password checker (located here). As you type in a test password, its strength is indicated by a color-coded box on the bottom.

The Microsoft online utility also has some good advice for creating strong passwords:

A strong password should appear to be a random string of characters to an attacker. It should be 14 characters or longer, (eight characters or longer at a minimum). It should include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. (more info)

At the very least, users should never use passwords based on family and friends’ information, such as names, locations, birthdays, etc. An old Friendster password hacker, which simply looked through the profile pages of a user’s contacts, surprised its creator with its effectivity.