1 March 2012

PASSWORDS (Safe or Unsafe)?


In this post I am going to discuss about passwords, their types, building strong passwords, Password cracking techniques and how to protet your password from cracking. After reading that post you will know  your password is safe or unsafe.

Today Every one is connected to Internet. Almost everyone has email accounts and accounts on social networking sites like Facebook, Google+, orkut, Twitter etc. All these accounts are protected by passwords. So it is really important to choose a strong password so that you can remain safe.

Passwords for your account (on some website) or document are like key to lock. You can access your account or document only when you have right password (Like lock can be open with right key only). Passwords generally control access to your document or account.  They let you access and keeps others away.

Types of Passwords:-


Collection of characters (Strings):- Combination of alphabets, numbers and special symbols (generally above the numbers in keyboard). The range (length) of these is either of user’s choice or of range defined by that website.
String + a Token:- This type of passwords requires a string as well as a token of some special type. For example automatic teller machine (ATM) for this you require ATM card and PIN (personal identification number). If either of them is missing your access will be denied.
Biometric Passwords:- These passwords use non-reproducible biological features like fingerprints or retinal scan. These passwords are considered to be safer. But I actual it is more safe to carry a strong password in your brain than which you carry on your body.
Build a strong Password:-

The Strong passwords:-

  1. can’t be found in a dictionary
  2. contains numbers, letters and special symbols
  3. contains upper and lower case letters
  4. are longer

The longer passwords are always safe. You can find many password generators on internet but they generate the passwords which are very difficult to remember. Instead you can try the random characters which you can remember easily. Like

JJPL2c1d (John, Jill, Paul, Lucy, 2 cats, 1 dog – the members of your household)

Password Cracking:-

Password cracking is basically done by these methods:-


  1. Just looking around:- for example if you had wrote your password somewhere. If someone else had found that then he can use it to access your account.
  2. Brute Force Attack:- In this attack attacker try each and every possible combination until he founds the correct password.
  3. Automated Dictionary Attacks:- In this type of attacks each and every word of dictionary is used until one works.

Protection from Password Cracking:-


  1. Use stronger passwords that can’t be determined by dictionary attack.
  2. Don’t past your passwords near your computer.
  3. Change password regularly.
  4. Use different passwords for different accounts. There is no need to create same password for every account. By this you can save your other accounts if one got hacked.
  5. Limit the attempts of wrong passwords to your account. After the limit you account will automatically locked.

That’s all about passwords. Hope you like the post and will remain safe from get hacked.

1 comment:

  1. This is really very nice posting in this blog. I had really liked the stuff very much.
    The information was very cordial. Thanks!
    Password Safe

    ReplyDelete