How long does it take a hacker to crack your password?
Passwords are still the method of choice to protect your accounts from unauthorized access. In order for this to work, they must of course be correspondingly long and complex. Because anyone who uses a password that is too short or too simple can become the victim of a brute force attack.
What is a brute force attack? In such an attack, a hacker tries to guess your password using a computer – quite simply by trying all the possibilities until the right word comes up. It goes without saying that short and simple passwords can be guessed faster this way.
Exactly how long does it take attackers to guess your password when in doubt? The Reddit account u/hivesystems does that in its clear password table clearly.
Behind the account is the security company Hive Systems, which specializes in IT security. The company has been publishing a corresponding graphic since 2020.
link to Reddit content
Accordingly, even particularly long passwords with 18 characters can be guessed within a few days if they only consist of numbers. And even a password with numbers, upper and lower case letters and special characters can be cracked within a few hours if it is less than ten characters long.
To compare how big the jumps are with brute force attacks: In 2020 it still took about 9 months to crack an 18-character password consisting purely of numbers.
The graphic is gratefully received in the comments, but at the same time the users also react with humor, which is typical for Reddit. This is how u/edgy_Juno writes:
That’s why my password is the last 10 digits of Pi
That’s why my password is the last ten digits of Pi
Password: Long and complex is not enough
Using the graphic, you can now estimate for yourself how long and complex your password should be to protect against brute force attacks.
Depending on the complexity, 17 to 18 characters are required to get into the green area of the graphic. In addition, the password must consist of at least large and small letters, ideally also numbers and special characters.
In addition to the complexity and length of the password, other factors are also important. You should only use each password once instead of using the same character string for every account.
Additional security measures such as two-factor authentication also make life more difficult for attackers.
In the following article I will tell you how to make your smartphone more secure: These 5 apps belong on your phone if you care about security
. Maxe also gives you 9 tips on how to make your passwords more secure.
Making your password long and secure at the same time can almost only be achieved with a password manager. What do you do to make your passwords as unrecognizable as possible? Which password manager do you use? Or maybe you have a clever trick on how to easily build mnemonic bridges? Share your safety tips in the comments.
