Creating Strong Passwords: What Actually Works

For years, we've been told that strong passwords require a confusing mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. You know the type: P@ssw0rd123! or MyD0g$Name. The problem? This advice is outdated and actually makes passwords harder for you to remember while not being much harder for hackers to crack.

The good news is that creating truly strong passwords is actually simpler than you think. Let's break down what actually works in password security.

Length Beats Complexity Every Time

The single most important factor in password strength is length. Each additional character you add to a password exponentially increases the time it takes a computer to crack it through brute force attacks.

Think about it this way: a password-cracking program has to try every possible combination of characters until it finds the right one. An 8-character password using all the complexity rules might have millions of possible combinations. But a 16-character password using only lowercase letters has billions more combinations.

Security experts now recommend passwords that are at least 12 characters long, with 16 or more being even better. The math is simple: longer passwords are exponentially harder to crack, regardless of complexity.

The Passphrase Approach: Easy to Remember, Hard to Crack

Instead of struggling to remember a jumble of random characters, use a passphrase. A passphrase is a string of random words put together. This approach gives you length without sacrificing memorability.

How to Create a Strong Passphrase

1. Pick 4-6 truly random words. Don't use quotes, song lyrics, or phrases that go together naturally. Use a dice method or random word generator.
2. String them together. You can use spaces, hyphens, periods, or just run them together.
3. Make it memorable to you. While the words should be random, you can create a mental image or story to help remember them.

Good passphrase examples:

• coffee-elephant-glacier-trumpet
• purple.bicycle.tornado.muffin
• dolphin_sunset_library_hammer

Common Password Mistakes That Put You at Risk

Even if you understand the basics, there are several pitfalls that can undermine your password security:

Using Personal Information

Avoid anything that can be found on your social media or public records:

• Your name, spouse's name, children's names, or pet names
• Birthdays, anniversaries, or other significant dates
• Your address, phone number, or ZIP code
• Names of schools you attended or companies you've worked for

Remember, hackers specifically look for this information. If your Facebook profile shows you have a dog named Max and your birthday is May 15, "Max0515" is one of the first passwords they'll try.

Simple Patterns and Common Words

These are immediately tried by password-cracking software:

• Sequential numbers or letters: 123456, abcdef, qwerty
• Common words: password, welcome, letmein
• Single dictionary words, even with letter substitutions: p@ssword is barely better than password

Reusing Passwords Across Sites

This is perhaps the most dangerous mistake. When a website gets breached and your password is stolen, hackers immediately try that same password on other popular sites like your email, banking, and social media accounts.

Every account needs its own unique password. Yes, every single one. This is exactly why password managers exist - more on that in a moment.

Making Your Passphrase Even Stronger

While a long passphrase of random words is already quite strong, you can make it even better if you need extra security for critical accounts like email or banking:

• Add a number: Insert a random number between words: coffee-47-elephant-glacier-trumpet
• Mix in a special character: Use a symbol as a separator: coffee$elephant$glacier$trumpet
• Capitalize randomly: Pick one or two words to capitalize: coffee-ELEPHANT-glacier-trumpet

Just remember: these additions are bonuses. The length is doing most of the heavy lifting for your security.

The Role of Password Managers

Here's the truth: you shouldn't be creating and memorizing dozens of passwords. That's what password managers are for. A password manager creates and stores unique, randomly generated passwords for every account you have. You only need to remember one strong master password (use a passphrase!).

You'll still need to create a handful of strong passwords manually for your most critical accounts, like your master password for the password manager itself, your primary email, and your computer login. Use the passphrase method for these.

Quick Reference: Password Creation Checklist

Moving Forward

Creating strong passwords doesn't have to be complicated. Focus on length first, use random words strung together for passwords you need to remember, and let a password manager handle the rest. Your accounts will be dramatically more secure, and you'll actually have an easier time managing your passwords.

The outdated advice about special characters and complexity made passwords hard for humans to remember but easy for computers to crack. The new approach makes passwords easy for humans to remember but nearly impossible for computers to crack. That's the difference that matters.