How to create a really tough password to hack

In the almost 10 years that I have been offering technical support to large companies, I have seen practically everything. If something has become clear to me –among many other things-, it is that people do not pay much interest to the strength of your passwords. What's more, if you force them to change their account password to a more secure one, chances are that some "free spirits" will ride you a nice chicken from time to time.

Online security is essential, and a good password is the main barrier that separates thieves from our applications, stores and websites on the Internet. So today we are going to take a look at a few recommendations for build a really strong password for our online accounts.

5 tips to create a strong password, easy to remember, but difficult to hack

The first thing we have to keep in mind is that no password is free from being hacked. No matter how complex it is, we can always be victims of massive data theft and be completely exposed. Therefore, we must always add one more layer of security and change the password periodically every 3 months, or at least 1 time a year.

A strong password must be at least 12 characters long

For a password to be considered secure, it must be made up of at least 12 characters. In addition, it must include both uppercase, such as lowercase, numbers, and symbols. Some security experts even recommend raising the figure to 15 characters, where the computing forces must be really powerful to overcome its complexity.

Avoid the obvious

Using the names of relatives, our date of birth, passwords type "password" or "password", are obvious that we must avoid at all costs. You just have to see the list of the 25 most used passwords last year to realize it.

But also predictable changes between letters and numbers how to substitute the letter "E" for a "3", the "o" for a "0" and the like. It is something that hackers are always aware of and are not especially difficult to crack.

Another point to avoid are names of superheroes, soccer teams and famous or popular people. They are one of the most used and, therefore, very predictable. "Batman", "Songoku", "Manchester", "RealMadrid" or "Metallica", are some words that we should never use as a password.

Includes various symbols

A good way to start developing a strong password is to include at least 2 symbols. With this simple gesture we will significantly increase the difficulty of the access code.

For example, if we use the password “Butler"We can reinforce it by modifying it to"Butler”. If we also add capital letters and numbers as in "m # aYord9 * Mo0”, We will have a strong and seamless key.

Build tough passwords from easy-to-remember phrases

Another pretty cool trick is to drop the words and build from easy-to-remember phrases. For example, an epic phrase from your favorite movie, a popular song or saying. For instance:

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”

If we catch the first letter of each of the words in the sentence, we will get "Mvpemqcv". From here, we just have to add a couple of symbols and numbers and we will have a secure password as well as recognizable as "Mvpemqcv # 2019".

Use the letter "Ñ"

One of the virtues of Spanish is that it has a letter that is rarely used in the rest of the world: the "ñ". It is not essential, but it does provide an extra level of security in the face of possible international attackers. An advantage that we can combine with the advice noted in the previous points.

Conclusions

A strong password is one that only we are able to remember. For this same reason, it is also recommended that we avoid checking their security by entering sites such as How Secure Is My Password?. They can be a good tool to evaluate old passwords, but we should never use them with keys that are active.

It is also recommended do not use the same password for more than one account, since in case of theft the damage can be exponential. Finally, remember not to leave the passwords written down in visible places next to the PC, and if possible, always store a digital copy on a securely kept pendrive.