How to come up with a strong password? Tips and tricks. How to come up with a strong password that is hard to crack

In order to reliably protect data on your computer from hacking by intruders, you must always consider options for encrypting information. As a rule, a password is always used to log into certain sites or use certain applications. However, thanks to modern technology, today's hackers are very quick to guess and recognize simple encryption methods. In order not to lose the necessary data and not become a victim of attackers, you need to carefully think through the “password”. In order to figure out how to do this, first of all, it is worth considering the types and methods of encryption.

Types of passwords

Today, the following types of encryption are distinguished:

• alphabetic;
• symbolic;
• digital;
• combined;
• using register.

The first 3 categories are considered the most unreliable. If only letters or symbols were used to create a password, then such a cipher is quite easy to crack even with the most basic program. Such “passwords” can be used exclusively on forums or accounts that you are not afraid of losing. The following coding categories are worth considering more seriously.

How to come up with a password: letters, numbers and symbols

The more additional information the code contains, the better. Such ciphers are almost impossible to crack. If the codes use combinations of letters and numbers or different symbols, then these are the most complex passwords.

It is also worth considering that the code must not be very short. The fewer characters used in encryption, the easier it will be for attackers. Therefore, a complex password of 8 characters or more is considered best.

If we talk about examples of bad passwords, the worst of them are combinations consisting of the same repeated numbers or letters. In this case, hacking is guaranteed.

However, many are faced with the fact that choosing the right complex passwords for a mailbox or another method of authorization on virtual resources is not so easy. The fact is that many Internet users access a wide variety of portals. If you come up with a separate code for each of them, you can end up getting confused. What to do in this situation?

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The most complex passwords typically contain both uppercase and lowercase letters.

It is not recommended to use specific words that can be translated from English or other languages. It is better if it is a chaotic set of symbols, in which some characters will be large and others small.

It is most convenient to remember passwords written using case, if you follow a certain sequence of uppercase and lowercase letters. For example, the first character can be made small, the second - large, and so on.

Changelings

In order not to rack their brains about how to remember a complex password, some network users very often use their date of birth as a “password”. Unfortunately, such codes are considered the most unreliable. The fact is that it will not be difficult for attackers to find this information on a social network or other sources. However, this does not mean that this method should be excluded. If you mirror all the characters in the code, you can create a pretty interesting password.

For example, a complex password of numbers “772010” means that the person was actually born on February 1, 1977. However, it is advisable to supplement such a cipher with some other symbols.

Generators

And in order not to rack your brains over how to come up with a password, it is much easier to use ready-made programs for this. However, you need to understand that when using such applications there is a risk that they themselves may turn out to be developed by attackers, so it is much better to come up with “passwords” on your own.

However, it is still worth considering what a generator is. This program creates passwords by randomly selecting random combinations of letters, numbers and other symbols. In this case, as a rule, several encoding methods are used at once, with the exception of “reversals”.

This type of program is very small and easy to install. As a rule, they have only 1 button, so even an inexperienced user can easily select the password he likes and use it.

Such programs usually have internal antiviruses installed that prevent attacks by intruders. However, it is worth considering that the codes will be saved in the program database, so malware may have access to these files.

In addition, after using the generator, many users receive extremely complex passwords that are simply impossible to remember. Some people make the huge mistake of recording this information in a file, saving it on their computer desktop. Doing this is strictly prohibited.

Encryption

This encoding method has something in common with the methods described above. Let's take a closer look at how encryption is done. This is much easier to do using complex passwords as an example.

You can take the simplest but unique phrase that a person can remember quite easily. For example, someone liked the phrase “space oysters.” You can also use any lines from your favorite songs and poems, or just a set of chaotic words that the user likes most.

• Rewrite all Russian words using the English layout. Based on our complex password example, it should be something like rjcvbxtcrbt ecnhbws.
• Mirror the phrase swbhnce tbrctxbvcjr.
• Replace all letters with symbols that look similar to them. For example, the letter "o" can be replaced with "()", and the character "i" can easily be specified as "!" etc.
• Remove paired or unpaired characters.
• Remove all consonants or, conversely, vowels.
• Add additional special characters or numbers.

There is also another way that will help you quickly create the most complex passwords and not forget them. For example, let’s take the same phrase “space oysters.” If you take the first 4 letters of the first word and 4 characters from the second, you get the incoherent word “kosmritsy”. After this, just switch to the English layout and dial this combination again. We get rjcvhbws.

If you complicate the cipher a little and add a capital letter, then in this case the password will be very easy to remember, since the original word is known only to the user himself.

Such combinations are considered the most complex passwords, which are quite easy to remember.

As a rule, many novice Internet users use their email address as a login. Under no circumstances should you do this, since it will not be difficult for attackers to find out information about a person’s mailbox. Therefore, it is better to come up with some other word. You should also adhere to the following recommendations:

• When creating passwords, you should never use personal data (for example, last name or first name, as well as the names of relatives or the names of pets).
• It is not recommended to enter addresses, date of birth and other information that can be easily found on any social network.
• You should not use those phrases or phrases that are widely used in everyday life by most people.
• The code length must be at least 10 characters.

How to quickly remember a new password?

To do this, it is best to use some phrases that no one else repeats. It is not recommended to use quotes from famous people, as many people do this.

You can use an automatic poetry generator for this, as well as other poetry services, of which there are a huge number today.

Perhaps there is a word or expression in the family that is rarely used by anyone else. You can simply use Latin letters to write it, and also supplement them with some significant numbers that will not be the date of birth.

A strong password can protect you and your data from the machinations of intruders. On the Internet, any profile requires a “password” to log in. Only you should know it - and no one else. So you will have to try hard to come up with a decent secret combination that is not so easy to recognize. In some cases, you can use one trick, but it still will not be able to completely secure your profile on the Internet. What tips should you use to make your “password” difficult to guess?

Numbers, letters, symbols

The most secure password is a combination that is difficult to remember and guess. Therefore, users always think about what they should use as a “password” for authorization on various services.

The first advice that advanced “users” give is to use a combination of numbers, letters and symbols in their secret combinations. It is also recommended not to create short passwords - it would be better if they were long and difficult to remember. This way you can protect your data.

What specific combination should I use? You'll have to figure this out on your own. However, there are a few more tips to help you create a strong password.

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Please note that often forms for entering "passwords" are case sensitive. In other words, they distinguish between lowercase and uppercase letters. This is a great opportunity to diversify your secret combination.

When coming up with a strong password, try to combine not only numbers with letters and special characters, but also alternate between lowercase and uppercase ones. This approach helps make it more difficult for attackers. The main thing is, don’t forget which letter is in which case.

It is recommended to capitalize the very first letter, and then alternate according to the “every other” principle. This kind of technique will help you avoid getting confused in the password you created. So take this advice into account. Which password is more secure? One that uses a variety of registers when writing. It is possible to do without this feature, but it is not advisable.

Changelings

They say you shouldn't use dates that are important to you in your passwords. But that's not true. It is enough to slightly diversify the approach to this issue. There is such a technique as “shifters”. It helps you use dates that are important to you in your “password”. At the same time, it will be very difficult to unravel your secrets.

What is this principle based on? At the very beginning of the password you choose, you should write a date. For example, your birthday. And at the end - the same date, but upside down. If 123 is written at the beginning, then 321 is written at the end. As you can see, there is nothing difficult about this. Therefore, this technique is used by many users. It’s easy to remember the general principle of constructing a “secret record”. This means you won’t forget the “password” just like that.

Now it’s worth taking a closer look at strong passwords. Examples of these using “shifters” are what will help you figure out exactly how to create a good combination for authorization in an account on the Internet.

Let's assume that the "body" of our password will be the user's first and last name. Then we print: IvAnIvAnOv. Now you should use the “shifters”. To do this, let's take some date. For example, how often is the user's birthday selected? Let in our case it be May 4, 1988. And we dilute it all with symbolism. The final combination is: 4051988!~IvAnIvAnOv~!8891504. This is the complex password we have. In fact, it is easy for the user to remember, but it is extremely difficult for attackers to guess. In any case, practice shows exactly this situation.

Generating

If you can’t come up with a strong password yourself, you’ll have to use one little trick. Just don’t think that it will completely protect you from hacking. There is nothing better than a personally invented “password”.

What kind of reception are we talking about? About using special password generators. They themselves make up “secret combinations” using symbols, letters and numbers. Of course, taking into account the registry. But “shifters” are not used here.

You can download any password generator. Just launch the application and click on the "Generate" button (or something like that). You will receive a combination as a password. It can be supplemented or used in its original form.

Requiring registration and use of a password to gain access to your account. E-mail, Internet messengers, personal account of the Internet provider, chats, forums, other sites and this is at a minimum. In this article we will try to figure out how to come up with passwords for all these countless services.

When registering on a new website, we often stop and think when we see the password entry field. An almost ideal way to create a strong password would be to generate a random password using a special program such as . But such passwords are difficult to remember, which means they need to be written down and stored somewhere. This option is not suitable for some ordinary users. Even if you use a programmatic method to create and store passwords, you will still have to remember some passwords.

When creating a password manually, you must follow several rules:

• You cannot use simple combinations of symbols and numbers. For example, passwords 123, 321, 123456, qwerty, asdfg and others are not suitable.
• Cannot be used when creating a password (names of relatives, pets, dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses, zip codes, etc.). For example, the passwords Masha, Sasha21, Vasya02071988 and others are not suitable.
• Do not use passwords that can be guessed from a dictionary of popular passwords. For example, the passwords love, cat, alfa, samsung, mercedes, yasterva and others, as well as their variants and combinations are not suitable.
• Do not use passwords that are less than 10 characters long.
• The password must consist of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
• When coming up with passwords, use your imagination and don’t think in stereotypes. The computer that guesses your password is good at math, but it can't think or be creative.

There are many ways to come up with a simple and relatively strong password. We will look at one of these methods.

How to come up with a password

The first thing we need to do is come up with a key phrase. The ideal option would be a unique nonsense phrase that is easy to remember. For example: space cockroaches. You can also use phrases from not very popular songs and poems.

• Recording a Russian phrase in an English layout.
• Write the phrase backwards.
• Replacing letters with their visual counterparts (“a” - “@”, “i” - “!”, “o” - “()”, etc.).
• Using the first few characters of each word.
• Removing paired/unpaired characters.
• Removing vowels/consonants from a phrase.
• Adding special characters and numbers.

You can use several of these methods to turn the key phrase into an almost meaningless string of characters. But, the ideal option would be to create your own unique method of “encrypting” the key phrase.

For example, using several template methods " " you can get the following password:

space cockroaches– use the first 4 characters from each word – kosmtara – write in the English layout – rjcvnfhf – write with a capital letter and add special characters and a random number – Rjcvnfhf@955

As a result, we ended up with a long and rather complex password that cannot be calculated from the personal information of its owner, but can be easily recovered from memory. Having checked the strength of the password using the service, we get the result “very strong”.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you once again that when coming up with a password you need to use your imagination and the ability to think outside the box. Using this advantage over "dumb" computers, you can create passwords that will be too tough for them.

Hello, my dear readers!

Frightened by “horror stories” that evil hackers can crack the password of anything, the poor little user feverishly begins to go through all his passwords and wonder: will they crack it or not...

At one time I asked myself the question: how to create a strong password for all my services for which I am registered? Is this even possible?

How do burglars operate?

First, let's think about how the hacking process occurs. In general, there are several main ways for an attacker:

• look at the paper, on which all passwords are written. Surprisingly, many users still keep a sticker glued to their monitor, on which is written the password so treasured by the attacker. As they say, no comments...
• brute force. Simply put, the usual enumeration of all possible options. As we often see in films: a special program finds the required password with lightning speed (or not quite lightning speed). In reality, this is practically impossible. If the password is crypto-resistant, that is, it consists of a sufficiently large number of characters and contains capital letters and numbers, selecting it can take a lot of time;
• obtaining remote access to the user's machine and viewing all the necessary information on it, including cookies and special administration files. Again, movie techniques don't work here.
  Gaining full access to a specific computer is not such an easy task and requires a certain approach to solving it. If your data is not particularly valuable, it is unlikely that a hacker will waste his precious time on your computer;
• keyloggers– keyboard interceptors. They are especially often used to gain access to payment information. Fortunately, the famous Kaspersky antivirus has a virtual keyboard in its arsenal. So it’s impossible to track keystrokes: there is simply no pressing;
• viruses. The advice here is this: don’t go where you don’t need it, and don’t download what you don’t need. And if you do download, then install a good antivirus on your computer and trust in its power;
• regarding mobile platforms, then most often they use either the same brute force or the method of intercepting packets over encrypted network channels.

A few rules for creating a strong password

So it's not all that bad. Nevertheless, almost every one of us has probably encountered the fact that his account on VKontakte or on a forum was “hacked”, or even Odnoklassniki sounded the alarm... As a rule, this happens due to the simplicity of the password itself. There are special programs that already “know” standard sets of passwords and generate their variations.

You can, of course, randomly run your fingers over the keys, “generating” a password. Alas, even in this case, the algorithms of hacker programs select all possible options, albeit not very quickly.

I advise you to permanently abandon passwords that are a repetition of your login. Fortunately, many services do not allow the user to set such a password at all. But social networks use either a mobile phone number or an email address as a login. This makes life much easier for the attacker.

And God forbid you from the names of animals, children, parents and dates of birth! Such passwords can be hacked by people even from close circles.

Some time ago I used a method I personally invented. Only later did I find out that I was not the only one so smart. Its essence lies in the fact that some phrase in Russian is invented. For example, “This password is strong.” And then the keyboard switches to the Latin layout and the same is entered, but without spaces. It turns out: “”njngfhjkmyflt;ysq”. Is this method a good one? Not really. Smart hacker algorithms have long been aware of this method.

But in general there are only three requirements for passwords:

1. more signs. 8 – good, 12 – even better, 16 – great;
2. Be sure to use numbers. Moreover, both in the middle and at the end of the password;
3. alternate between capital letters and regular letters. And exactly the same - in the middle and at the end.

Password generators

I also tried special services - both online and separate applications. Last Pass, for example, or here’s another: RandStuff, Password Generator and a bunch of services with the simple name “Password Generator”.

At first glance, they are all really capable of generating a random set of characters and numbers. But this is only at first glance random. An experienced programmer knows that there is no truly random generator; they all work according to certain algorithms. I won’t lie that this is exactly the case, but I suspect two things:

• knowing the algorithm by which passwords are generated, it will not be difficult for a hacker program to trace this algorithm in the opposite direction;
• Some of these programs and services, oddly enough, are used specifically for hacking. The generated password is saved somewhere in a cache or in a cookie. And, perhaps, it goes straight to the attacker’s car.

Therefore, it is necessary to use only proven programs with an excellent reputation!

Now the choice is yours: use special programs or come up with complex passwords yourself. But under no circumstances store them on paper. Better create a file and save it on the cloud. By the way, other services also provide excellent cloud storage.

Want to know all the computer secrets? How about learning to communicate with a computer on a first-name basis? In this case, you can order a multimedia training course “ Computer genius“, everything will be explained there in the most accessible language and - most importantly - they will clearly show how to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.

Be sure to share the link to this material with your friends via social media. networks so that they do not become victims of attackers. Don't forget to subscribe to the blog update mailing list, which will notify you when a new article is edited. Be careful, see you soon!

Sincerely! Abdullin Ruslan

Passwords are everywhere: on social networks, payment systems, on your computer and phone. It is unrealistic to keep so much information in your head, so many users follow the path of least resistance - they come up with one key that is easy to remember, and then enter it on all sites where they register.

This approach to security can end in disaster. If the access code for VKontakte or Odnoklassniki can be lost without serious financial consequences, and therefore there is no need to make it complex, then you need to come up with a password for registering in the payment system or creating an Apple ID so that no one except the owner has access to the data.

Rules for creating passwords

Almost all sites have a list of password requirements when registering. However, usually these requirements are minimal: at least 8 characters, cannot consist only of numbers or letters, etc. To create a truly complex password, you need to keep a few more restrictions in mind.

• Login and password must not be the same.
• It is not recommended to use any personal information, especially if it can be obtained from social networks or other sources.
• It is not recommended to use words.

To understand the logic of these prohibitions, just look at how passwords are cracked. For example, a 5-digit key is only 100 thousand combinations. By simply searching through all the options, the hacking program will find a suitable combination in 2 minutes, if not less. A rare word will not work for an access code either. An attacker can analyze different dictionaries in different languages ​​and find a match. The only question is how long it will take - a few minutes or a couple of hours.

Advanced PDF Password Recovery program for cracking passwords set on a PDF document. Uses brute force and allows you to fine-tune the selection by noting the characters used in the password.

The combination of a rare word and numbers will also not work. Bruteforce technology allows you to search for combinations of numbers and words, so that such a key will fall if necessary. It will, of course, last a little longer than 123456789, but if you suffer losses due to hacking, then this time difference is unlikely to seem significant. To understand which password is strong and which is not, let’s look at specific examples. The approximate hacking time is calculated using password checking services, which are described below.

• Date of birth (05041992) – will be hacked in 3 milliseconds.
• A name with a small or capital letter (Segey, sergey) will last 300-500 milliseconds, that is, less than half a second.
• Combinations of numbers and lowercase letters (1k2k3d4a9v) – approximately 1 day.
• It will take about 6 years to crack a password like HDA5-MHJDa.
• The combination AhRn&Mkbl363NYp will be deciphered in 16 million years.

The cracker will not work for 16 million years or even 6 years - this value only demonstrates that it is impossible to crack the password within an acceptable period of time.

Password generation

It's one thing to know the rules, another thing to follow them. Most users are aware that they cannot use an access code consisting of their date of birth or name to register, but this stops few. Two problems:

• It's hard to come up with a complex password.
• Even if you create a password containing a random set of characters, it is difficult (sometimes simply impossible) to remember it.

An online password generator will help you solve the first problem. On the Internet you can find a large number of services that offer to quickly create a complex password from letters, numbers, and special characters.

Online generators work on the same principle: you indicate which characters you need to use, select the required number of characters and click “Generate”. The services differ only in certain aspects.

For example, on Pasw.ru you can generate several dozen passwords at once (up to 99 combinations). PassGen allows you to set the option to automatically exclude duplicate characters from the security key, that is, all characters in it will be in the singular.

Key storage

If you can generate a password online, then you need to store the keys on your computer. Writing the password on a piece of paper, in a separate document on the computer, on a sticky note glued to the screen is the path to unauthorized access to data. So here comes the second problem: how to remember the created key.

You shouldn't rely on memory, but you can rely on a password manager. Many users choose KeePass. This program is distributed free of charge and works on Windows 7, Windows 10 and other modern versions of Microsoft OS. In addition, KeePass has a built-in password generator, so you don't have to search for online services every time.

The only downside of a password manager is that it also requires an access code, which is called a master password. But remembering one master password is much easier than keeping dozens of complex combinations in your mind. In addition, when creating it, you can use a trick - take poetry, counting rhymes or any other memorable lines as a basis and turn them into a combination of letters, numbers and signs.

For example, you can take a quatrain, highlight the first letters and punctuation marks, and then write them in the Latin layout. Some letters can be replaced with numbers - “z” with “3”, “o” with “0”, “h” with “4”. As a result of such manipulation, from four lines of a children's poem that will never leave your head, you will get the password U0d?D3ep.Gzc3hek, which will take 3 trillion years to crack.

Difficulty check

On many sites, when registering, the user is shown whether he has a good password. You can make sure that the generated code is complex and you won’t be able to hack it quickly, you can do it yourself using the ? In the “Enter Password” field, paste the generated password. In response, you will receive the approximate time it will take to crack the key on a regular computer. If it’s several million or at least thousands of years old, then the code is definitely reliable.

You can also use other services to check reliability: for example, from Kaspersky Lab. It also shows the time required to crack a password, at the same time telling you what can be done within the specified period.

Another interesting way to check is the “Password Strength” service on the website 2ip.ru. Here the result is categorical: the key is either reliable or unreliable.

You need to understand that the hacking time shown by these services is very arbitrary and is designed for the case if the hacker uses a regular computer. A supercomputer with fantastic performance will do the job faster, as will dedicated password-cracking machines that can test up to 90 billion keys per second. But it is unlikely that people who own such equipment will need your email, Skype or Wi-Fi password.