Posts Tagged ‘security’

This web site asks the simple question:

Friday, July 9th, 2010

How Secure Is My Password?Simply type in a password, one at a time, in to the box provided.  When you’re finished, the site tells you approximately how many seconds/minutes/days/months/years it would take to “crack” your password.  The estimate is based on a fancy algorithm which takes in to account the number of characters typed, the frequency of characters being re-used, upper & lower case, numbers, and special characters.  Then, it calculates how long the average repulsive script kitty or 1337 |-|4x0r5 would spend trying to crack it.  It’s just like what you would find on any other web site registration page which displays how “weak” or “strong” your password is.  However, this one doesn’t submit or store any data, and doesn’t require you to sign up for anything.  Also, according to the site, it works by utilizing “50% mathematics, 51% witchcraft”.

Check it out.  It may help you decide to change one of your not-too-secure passwords, or you might high-five yourself for having a password which wouldn’t be cracked for “three-hundred thousand years”.

Visit: How Secure Is My Password?


Start the year off with a self-prescribed password audit

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

passwordstrength

With the new year in full swing, now is a great time to run down the list of passwords you use on a daily basis, and give them a complete audit. Stop using the same semi-secure password(s) on everything, and lay down some solid security for your personal information.

The general rules we’ve all heard since receiving our first email accounts:
1) Minimum of 6 characters (minimum of 8 is better)
2) Use at least one lowercase and one uppercase letter
3) Use at least one number
4) Use at least one non-alphanumeric character (typically: ! @ # $ * | etc.)
5) Avoid using words from the dictionary (“LightSpeed!” could be much more secure as “L|ghtSp33d!”, for example) (more…)