How Hackable is Your Password?

WEDNESDAY, JUN 22, 2011

A recent story of a now-famous hacked account got us thinking about how passwords get hacked and what we can do better to protect ourselves. Experts say that passwords are our best protection and are, many times, the one we take least seriously.

Remembering a different password for every site can be a daunting task, and we sometimes resort to using the same password over and over again. Occasionally a site will require a capital letter or that a number be in the password…so we'll capitalize the first letter and throw the number "1" at the end. Well, hackers are on to our crafty ways, and our predictability makes their jobs that much easier.

Here is a list of the most commonly-used passwords (making up approximately 20% of all passwords):

1. Your partner, child, or pet's name, possibly followed by a 0 or 1 (because they're always making you use a number, aren't they?)
2. The last 4 digits of your social security number.
3. 123 or 1234 or 123456.
4. "password"
5. Your city, or college, football team name.
6. Date of birth – yours, your partner's or your child's.
7. "god"
8. "letmein"
9. "money"
10. "love" (list courtesy of John Pozadzides, internet standards expert)

If those don't work, hackers will resort to password-hacking software, conveniently available for free online. Depending on your password, these programs can accurately guess your password anywhere from .02 seconds to 2,046 millennia. Below are a few examples of the importance of password length, using both upper and lower case letters:

Password Length-- Processing (Hacking) Time
3 characters-------- 0.86 seconds
5 characters-------- 2.15 hours
7 characters-------- 2.21 years
9 characters-------- 20 millennia

Remembering all those intricate passwords can be tricky. Keep a list of all your passwords for your reference and, of course, keep that list in a safe, secure place.

Without a doubt the world is changing from paper to electronic transactions. It can be very convenient, and safe, as long as you keep yourself protected. Follow these suggestions to ensure a strong password and, consequently, your safety and privacy while online.