Password Complexity Recommendations

Recommendations for Password Security

In IT, a “Brute Force” password attack is a method used by hackers to steal a password by trying every possible combination of characters very quickly via machinery or software. Using a long and complex password is a great way to help protect your valuable information that cyber criminals seek to steal.  The longer and more complex your password is, the more difficult it is to “crack” your password. Your passwords must always follow the guidelines listed on the Password Reset page.

  • Create long passwords – The longer the better.  The more characters there are in a password, the larger the number of computations a computer program will have to undertake to figure out what your password is.
  • Create complex passwords – Use spaces, upper and lower case, numbers, and symbols to increase the complexity of your password.
  • Use a passphrase, which is a sentence-like password with the complexity mentioned above.
    • Example:  My favorite game is Super Mario Bros 3 on the Nintendo!

Why should my password be so complex?

Here is an interesting chart from Hive Systems, leading cyber security company, that outlines how long it takes for a cyber criminal to crack a password with “Brute Force” using current technology capabilities.

Characters

Numbers Only

Lowercase Letters

Upper and Lower Case Letters

Numbers, Upper/Lower Case Letters

Numbers, Upper/Lower Case, Symbols

4

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

5

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

6

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

Instantly

7

Instantly

Instantly

2 Sec

7 Sec

31 Sec

8

Instantly

Instantly

2 Min

7 Min

39 Min

9

Instantly

10 Sec

1 Hour

7 Hour

2 days

10

Instantly

4 Min

3 Days

3 Weeks

5 Months

11

Instantly

2 Hr

5 Months

3 Years

34 Years

12

2 Sec

2 Days

24 Years

200 Years

3k Years

13

19 Sec

2 Months

1k Years

12k Years

202k Years

14

3 Min

4 Years

64k Years

750k Years

16m Years

15

32 Min

100 Years

3m Years

46m Years

1bn Years

16

5 Hr

3k Years

173m Years

3bn Years

92bn Years

17

2 Days

69k Years

9bn Years

179bn Years

7tn Years

18

3 Weeks

2m Years

467bn Years

11tn Years

438tn Years

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Details

Article ID: 151791
Created
Wed 10/12/22 2:54 PM
Modified
Mon 10/16/23 9:14 AM

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