How To Avoid A Weak Password?

Online passwords are the easiest way to protect yourself and your information from hackers. A password may be required on any site on which you want to register or log in.

Why are passwords so easy to crack?

At first glance, it seems that creating a correct, strong password is not so difficult, but in fact it is not quite so. Many large companies, such as eBay, LinkedIn, Facebook, have repeatedly suffered losses due to the fact that their user passwords and other information “leaked”.

The first mistake that many people make is creating one password for many resources, that is, in fact, if such a password has become known, most likely hackers will “hack” such an account on other sites. For most people, managing their own passwords is generally an impossible task.

It was roughly estimated that each Internet user has at least 26 personal accounts on various resources. However, there will be a maximum of 5 passwords for all accounts. At the same time, most people keep their passwords in their heads, and only 12% of people know that there are special programs for managing passwords.

How long does it take to crack a password

If your password is very simple, like the word password or abcdefg, it will take an attacker about 0.29 milliseconds to guess it. But a password like 123456789 can be guessed 431 times while you blink. Even more complex passwords are cracked fairly quickly. And if earlier it took hackers up to 3 years to guess a password, now they can do it in a couple of months.

Crackers first check the simplest and most popular passwords, and then try passwords with the fewest characters. For example, a password of 7 characters can be cracked in 0.29 milliseconds, and if it contains 12 characters, then it can take up to two centuries.

Ways that hackers use to crack passwords

There are several such methods, so every confident Internet user should know about it so as not to fall for the bait.

Keylogger attacks

This is a specially created technology that tracks your every keystroke on a laptop or computer. Very often, this method is used by hackers to steal your personal information or data for registering on a particular service, and even steal important information for the company, corporate information.

In order not to get acquainted with this method of hacking, you need to use a password manager - this is such a thing that automatically fills in the authorization fields when entering the site. It is also important to keep the system of your device up to date, because keyloggers are able to exploit even the smallest vulnerabilities in the system.

Brute force attacks

Since users very often use very simple passwords, this program was invented that can automatically guess passwords. Moreover, after starting the selection, this process will not be interrupted until the password is guessed.

You can also protect yourself from such actions. If the site allows, you can set up account blocking if 3 incorrect passwords were entered. Use sites that have reCAPTCHA at the entrance - a special system that gives various tasks, including mathematical ones, that require input or solution. If a malicious program tries to log in, it will not be able to solve this problem.

dictionary attacks

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There is already an example in history when 6 million passwords were cracked on the LinkedIn website in 2012 using a dictionary attack. A dictionary attack works like this: each word in the dictionary is systematically inserted as a password. Dictionary attacks can be quite successful because people tend to choose short but very popular passwords.

To avoid falling for such a method, your password on any resource must be at least 8 characters, do not use popular well-known phrases or words from dictionaries.

Phishing attacks

Phishing is one of the most popular methods of stealing passwords and accounts. As a rule, hacking occurs through regular emails that contain a malicious link. Such letters can be disguised as letters from normal companies, so a person may not even suspect that they have fallen for the hackers' trick.

However, you can very easily protect yourself from this: it is important to be safe and not open suspicious emails, and if you do open them, then in no case follow the links. Also, do not download anything, and oh, especially do not enter any personal data.

How to create the strongest password

Creating a strong password is not as easy as it seems at first glance, but there are a few things you should know about it. The password must contain at least 14 different characters, and it is better to use the entire keyboard to create it, do not use anything related to you and your hobbies. Do not capitalize at the very beginning of the password - this is very predictable.

Create strong passwords and manage them from Nord VPN

The password is your main protection, for managing user account logins, as well as for organizing access to the device. The password for the system is a confirmation that you are logging into your account. The password is a calling card-identifier.

NordPass password manager is the best way to keep all digital accounts secure. The password manager app stores all credentials in a secure digital safe.

Nord VPN offers not only a secure Internet experience, but also a very user-friendly password manager. You can securely store and organize passwords from anywhere in the world. What does the Nord Pass offer? With this useful option, you can easily and easily generate complex passwords, as well as synchronize it with all your devices. Also, with the help of Nord Pass, you can store notes and bank cards, these data will be completely safe.

It is worth remembering that for more complete security, passwords should be changed at least once every 90 days, create different passwords for different sites so that none of them repeats. New passwords are best created using Nord Pass, because the system creates really secure passwords that are very hard to guess, and with a probability of 90%, such a generated password is very difficult to crack, and if you keep changing passwords, it will be completely unrealistic.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some effective strategies for creating strong passwords, and how can password managers assist?

Effective strategies include using a mix of characters, avoiding predictable patterns, and creating longer passwords. Password managers can assist by generating strong passwords, storing them securely, and auto-filling them across different sites and applications.