Strong Password

It has been a long time since I have made an article so I decided I would start back up with a simple one. This article is about strong passwords! What is a strong password you ask? A strong password is a password which because of its diversity (and sometimes randomness) makes it much harder to guess or break with a password cracker.

A strong password should be used in all mission critical situations including:
* server administration
* email credentials
* network credentials
* remote access credentials

General guidelines for strong passwords:
* 8-12 characters in length
* alphanumerical (contains both letters and numbers)
* contains both uppercase and lowercase letters
* contains at least one special character (eg. !, $, etc.)
* does not contain references to you (name, birthplace, etc.)

An example of a strong password would be: La32$qBl4
* is 9 characters in length
* contains both letters (L) and numbers (32)
* contains both uppercase (L) and lowercase (a) letters
* contains a special character ($)
* does not contain a reference to you (it is random)

An example of a password that it is not strong is: johndoe
* is less than 8 characters in length
* contains only letters
* contains only lowercase letters
* contains no special characters
* contains reference to your name (John Doe)

Most people who look at strong passwords get scared away because the way they look random (and most times are). Sure it looks hard to remember, but if it is a password you will need to use frequently you will not have a hard time remembering the keystrokes. Also, another thing you can do is make a reference to a word you can remember (without mentioning this word to someone else) and converting it to leetspeak.

An example of a word converted to leetspeak: elephant -> 3!3pH4nt
* is 8 characters in length
* contains both letters (p) and numbers (3)
* contains both uppercase (H) and lowercase (p) letters
* contains a special character (!)
* does not contain a reference to you (it is simply a word in the dictionary)

While this last method I have mentioned is sometimes frowned upon because it can be cracked somewhat easier than a random strong password, it still provides a great security benefit over a standard weak password (ex. johndoe). So next time you are dealing with something you are worried about the security of your credentials then go with a strong password or if you currently are dealing with high security objects but do not use a strong password then now is a good time to switch.

I hope you have found my article to be helpful.