Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SuperHero]

[superdave]

this really oughtn't be a surprise.

people choose the daffiest passwords. their middle name, kid's names, nicknames, crap like that.

the best passwords are more than 8 characters and include numbers and letters (alphanumeric).

putting numbers in the middle of the password make it incredibly difficult to crack. eg:

john1972smith <--- very reasonable password.

clearly, though, you'd use a combination of words/numbers that are less obvious than my example.

[ernie]

john1972smith is actually a very WEAK password... strong passwords (they should be called 'pass strings' because using words is not a good idea) mix lower and upper case letters, numbers and other characters... here are examples of STRONG passwords:

t6Om*w@e
eY!swV*k

one way to create a relatively strong password (it's not super strong because you're not using special characters or numbers) that is also memorable is to take the first letter from each word of a quote (the more obscure, the better)... for example, "To be or not to be" would become:
TbontbTi

[agoodmouse]

I agree. Strong passwords should be used. But to say "choose strong passwords, or don't bother with a password" is to construct a false dilemma. Using a password is better than no password.

[mrsquirrel]

Spell words using symbols numbers and letters.

Go0dD@y2D13

[ernie]

don't do that ^, either... password crackers use these letters (@, $, etc) in their 'dictionaries', so '$@ndwich' is just as obvious as 'sandwich'...

[mrsquirrel]

[Easter Clark]

But what about 54ndw1ch?

[Confused Canadian]

Passwords, like locks, are to keep 'honest' people out. If someone wants to break into your car or house, and they have the knowledge, they'll get in. If someone wants to hack your account, and they have the knowledge, they'll hack it.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to lock my doors, or create passwords for my computer / accounts.

[ernie]

the first thing crackers do is use dictionaries (which include alternate spellings) to break your password... a strong password is as random as possible, which forces crackers to use 'brute force', i.e. trying all possible permutations, to break your password... ironically, any password with words (long words are in the dictionary, too) is weak because 'brute force' isn't necessary to crack it...

[blackjack]

what about using passwords with spelling mistakes?

[ernie]

if you can imagine your password being in a collection of 'words', i.e. names, misspelled words, slang, etc, then it is probably a 'weak' password...

[OneWayTraffic]

[superdave]

[wormholes101]

Tips on choosing strong passwords...