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.