Strong password generator

Hackers crack pass­words with programs that test millions of alternatives in a second. Even so, cracking complex pass­words could still take millions of years. The following factors make your pass­word virtually unbreakable.

• It’s unique — your pass­word unlocks only one account, app, etc.

• It’s at least 12 characters long

• It includes upper­case and lower­case characters, numbers, and symbols

• It can’t be guessed

• It’s not commonly used — like pass­word, 123456, qwerty, etc.

Having a strong pass­word makes it harder for criminals to steal your personal details. When you use a single pass­word only for one account, criminals can’t break into all your accounts with just one stolen pass­word.

Many online accounts include valuable personal details, like a phone number, credit card number, home address, birth date, etc. These details can be used to impersonate you online. Hackers could also log in to, for example, your Netflix or Amazon account, with a stolen pass­word. If they change your pass­word, you lose your account.

Learn more from our article: Why your every pass­word matters

Remembering strong pass­words can be difficult, especially if you use a pass­word generator to create them. Make storing and remembering your pass­words easier by using a pass­word manager. This way you will never forget your pass­words and they are always at hand.

Often a pass­word app is also a strong pass­word generator. You can copy your pass­words when needed, or even use auto­fill to let the app do that for you. It’s safer, faster, and easier than any other pass­word practice.

A strong pass­word can be cracked, but you can make it virtually impossible for criminals. Hackers use programs to crack pass­words. They can try out millions of alternatives in a second. That’s why pass­words should be long and complex. If your pass­word is strong enough, it could take millions of years to crack it with current technology. However, even if you use a pass­word generator for creating your secure pass­words, criminals can still steal them, or trick you into giving them away.

Even if you generate pass­words to make sure they are as secure as possible, hackers can still get their hands on them. In addition to cracking your pass­word, hackers can

• breach an online service you use and steal your pass­word from there

• use a virus to log your key­strokes as you log in

• trick you into giving your pass­word to them with a phishing scam or social engineering

• buy pass­words from another hacker on an online black market

Modern hacking is a highly automated activity that targets millions of users at the same time. That’s why you should use one pass­word only for one account, instead of using the same ones on different accounts. Even if someone gets your pass­word, they can log into only a single account. Your other accounts are safe.

Learn more from our article: How account take­over happens.

Yes. While we can’t speak for every app, pass­word managers from trust­worthy producers are safe. A pass­word manager is especially useful for storing secure pass­words that you have created with a generator. On top of that, a good manager comes with a secure pass­word generator of its own.

A pass­word manager typically stores the pass­words on your device. They can’t be stolen online. Because of strong encryption, it’s practically impossible to break into a pass­word vault without the right pass­word or finger­print. Also, an attacker would first have to get to your device.

The tool automatically calculates pass­word entropy. Pass­word entropy indicates how easy it is for a pass­word cracking soft­ware to guess a pass­word. The more pass­words the soft­ware has to try before guessing the pass­word the higher the entropy is.

The calculation is an assessment of how difficult it is to crack the pass­word with methods commonly used by hackers. These include brute force cracking and dictionary attacks. Based on the mathematical result, the tool defines pass­word strength as weak, medium, strong, or super strong.

The stronger the pass­word is, the longer it takes for hackers to get the right result using programs that test even millions of alternatives in a second. Theoretically, it’s possible to crack any pass­word. However, with a strong enough pass­word it could still take millions of years.