Why password

Even with good recommendations for password creation, most users only perform the minimum requirements in order to skirt the rules. Instead, using the minimums as if they were exclusive requirements gives the hacker even more of an edge. If your policy is to require two uppercase letters, even though there is not a restriction on using more, most users will only employ two uppercase letters.

Hackers study human behavior and use it to improve the success of their password attacks. Forcing users to employ one or two uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols, or requiring a specific number of characters actually makes the task of password compromise a little easier. If a hacker knows your company's password policy, then they can automatically exclude any password that does not fit your requirements, such as anything missing an upper case or anything with too few letters. Hackers have an overwhelming amount of knowledge about general password rules, guidelines, and selections.

This insight into how we, as general computer and internet users, select passwords makes password cracking easier and faster. Hackers have compromised thousands of company networks and popular online services.

Many of these compromises have granted hackers either direct or delayed access to user passwords. Direct access to user passwords occurs when user account credentials are stored in a cleartext form. Once the user database is accessed, all of the user passwords are directly available. Delayed access occurs when the user account credentials are stored in some form of hashed, encrypted, or other semi-protected forms. This requires hackers to crack the passwords.

Password cracking efforts can sometimes be effective nearly immediately i. The goal of this document is to consolidate this new password guidance in one place. Ideally, a single comprehensive password policy can serve as a standard wherever a password policy is needed. It is not the intention here to reinvent the wheel, but rather to apply standards and existing documented best practices in a single source. This guidance was not created to focus on the password itself, but the overall goal of what a password is.

You should maintain strong passwords for all accounts on your computer. Here are some useful tips to for creating strong passwords and keeping your information secure. Use a unique password for each of your important accounts i. Do not use the same password across multiple accounts. Your password should be at least 8 characters long.

Password should consist of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols. A long password will offer more protection than a short password if it is properly constructed. According to a survey by password management company LastPass and Lab42, 59 per cent of respondents use the same password across multiple accounts. A majority of people would only go through the bother of updating their passwords if they were hacked; after all, they seem secure until that point.

But then, according to a study by Verizon, 80 per cent of hacking-related security breaches are a result of weak or compromised credentials. When LinkedIn suffered a data breach in and some million passwords were compromised, many were revealed to be rather obvious.

Arguably, security software design has failed to take human psychology into consideration. And especially given that the vast majority of websites still use passwords. There have been new kinds of passwords proposed. Because people recognise pictures better than they remember words, so-called graphical passwords request users click certain points on an image in a certain order. The efficacy of this approach is still being worked out. Although he points out that most online businesses typically want to offer consumers the path of least resistance to gain access to their sites.