There are several risks associated with storing your passwords in Google Sheets, including its lack of end-to-end encryption by default and lack of secure sharing capabilities.
Depending on how you create your passwords, such as the length or including letters, numbers and symbols, the time it would take a cybercriminal to crack it varies. Understanding what makes it easy for cybercriminals to crack your passwords is critical to keeping yourself safe from becoming a victim of this type of attack.
Read on to learn how long it would take to crack your password and what you can do to strengthen your passwords so they’re not easily cracked by a cybercriminal.
What’s Password Cracking?
Password cracking is when cybercriminals use tools and programs to retrieve passwords saved in a computer system or sent via a network. Using these programs, cybercriminals can crack your passwords and get into your accounts in a matter of seconds, minutes, hours, days or years depending on how complex your passwords are. The less complex your passwords are, the faster a password-cracking program can successfully crack them and compromise your accounts.
How Long It Would Take to Crack Your Password
To give you an idea of how long it takes to crack passwords, here are a few examples from the chart below.
According to security.org, passwords with at least one uppercase letter, number, symbol and at least 16 characters will take the longest for a password cracking program to crack – security.org estimates 34,000 years for a password that includes all of those criteria.
On the contrary, passwords that are 6 characters or less will be cracked instantly even when incorporating an uppercase letter, number and symbol. If you find that your password matches up to the criteria in the red, it means your passwords can be cracked instantly or in a matter of minutes, which is a risk to your online security.
The Importance of Random and Strong Passwords
It’s evident from the findings above that using weak passwords that don’t follow password best practices will make them easier for cybercriminals to crack. When you follow password best practices, the ability to crack your password becomes more difficult because of the complexity and length.
Password best practices include:
- Not using sequential numbers (e.g. 12345)
- Not including personal information (e.g. home address)
- Not using dictionary words (e.g. Dog)
- Not reusing passwords across multiple accounts
- Creating passwords with at least 16 characters
Oftentimes, people rely on themselves to create all their passwords. This results in using weak passwords because they are easier to remember or it leads to the reuse of passwords across multiple accounts. Reusing passwords is a dangerous practice as it makes it easier for cybercriminals to compromise more than just one of your accounts.
So, how can you go about creating passwords that are random, strong and difficult for cybercriminals to crack?
How to Create Strong Passwords That Are Hard to Crack
Here are a few ways you can create strong passwords that cannot be easily cracked.
Use a password generator tool
A password generator is a tool that aids you in creating unique passwords. When using a password generator, all you have to do is click a button and it’ll generate a unique string of characters based on how long you want your password to be. This is the easiest solution to strengthening your passwords since you won’t have to create them yourself. Keeper has its own password generator tool that is free to use. However, using a password generator tool alone is risky because you’re still left with the problem of having to remember them all – and the more complicated they are, the harder that is to do.
This is where a password manager can help.
Store your passwords in a password manager
A password manager is a cybersecurity tool that aids in generating passwords and storing them securely. Keeper’s password manager securely stores your passwords and allows you to access them on any platform, from any device. All you have to do is create a strong master password and Keeper Password Manager does the rest.
With Keeper, rest assured that your passwords will be almost impossible for a cybercriminal to crack.
Make sure your passwords are at least 16 characters long
Even when using a password generator tool or password manager, you’re still allowed the option to choose how long you want your passwords to be. Keep in mind that passwords less than 16 characters are not as secure as passwords that are at least 16 characters in length. The longer the password, the longer it’ll take for a cybercriminal to crack. The same goes for the complexity of the password.
Prevent Your Passwords From Being Cracked With Keeper
As technology advances, password cracking becomes easier for cybercriminals to successfully do. It’s important to understand the criteria to follow when creating strong, complex passwords and tools you can use to help create them.
Start a free 30-day trial of Keeper Password Manager to see how Keeper helps you create strong, unique passwords.