Having a secure password is so important. Here are some tips to keep your personal info safe with better passwords.
How long will it take a hacker to crack my password?
If your password is weak, hackers (using attack technology) can crack your password in less than 30 seconds.
The complexity and length of your password has an immediate effect on how secure it is. With information from the Government of BC, look how drastically the time it takes to crack a password varies with the complexity and length of the password (with 15 million tries per second):
- 5 digits, uppercase + lowercase letters
- = 25 seconds to crack
- 6 digits, uppercase + lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
- = 11 hours to crack
- 8 digits, uppercase + lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
- = 10 years to crack
- 9 digits, uppercase + lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
- = 1000 years to crack
How do I create a secure password?
With information from Get Cyber Safe, here are some things you should avoid:
- Don’t repeat numbers and letters (aaa)
- Don’t include simple sequences (123)
- Don’t use letters that appear in a row on your keyboard (qwerty)
- Never use your name, birthday, driver’s license or passport number
- Stay away from things like words spelled backwards, misspelled words, and abbreviations that are easy to figure out
It is recommended to use a passphrase instead of a password. A way to do this is by using the first letter of each word in a memorable sentence and turning that into your password.
- Sentence: My Dogs Are So Fluffy And Cute
- Password: Mdasfac
Then you can replace a letter with a symbol or perhaps add some numbers to it.
- Password: Mdasf&c85
Try to commit your passwords to memory and don’t store them on your computer or on your phone. If your information or passwords are ever compromised, you should ensure that you change all your passwords immediately.
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About Consumer Protection BC
We are responsible for regulating specific industries and certain consumer transactions in British Columbia. If your concern is captured under the laws we enforce, we will use the tools at our disposal to assist you. If we can’t help you directly, we will be happy to provide you with as much information as possible. Depending on your concern, another organization may be the ones to speak to; other times, court or legal assistance may be the best option. Explore our website at www.consumerprotectionbc.ca.
Excellent information!
I had no idea that technology was used this way, believing that hackers themselves hunkered down trying to break into any computer they managed to worm their way into. Scary!
Thank you!
Hi Pat! Thanks for your comment. I was really surprised when I found this information out too! I’ve changed all my passwords since. I’m glad you found the info helpful 🙂
I was convinced that hackers have a device to break into passwords in seconds. Perhaps I have seen too many films. For instance, Real Estate people have a key that opens all doors, like a master key or device. It could be hackers had already device a technology to get passwords decoded in seconds, some people are very intelligent and create things that for security reasons are never produce into our market.