Currently, password-based access control systems for information resources are the most widespread due to their simplicity and convenience. However, the security of the information that they are designed to protect depends on the reliability of the passwords used. Attackers take advantage of the ignorance and frivolity of many users by cracking their passwords and unauthorized access to information. In this regard, it is critically important to create passwords that prevent illegal attacks and ensure the state of protection of important information. Here are some tips on how to make your passwords more secure and avoid unnecessary problems.
Necessary
- - the Internet;
- - table of password entropy values.
Instructions
Step 1
Learn some theory. The password is an alphanumeric sequence of a certain length. Also, the password can include punctuation marks and special characters (!, @, #, $, Etc.). The strength of a password directly depends on its complexity (a measure of the effectiveness with which it can resist guessing or brute force).
Step 2
Use passwords that are long enough. Try to create passwords with a minimum length of eight characters. This will make it much more difficult to crack, since the attacker will take much longer.
Step 3
Use numbers, letters and special characters. The larger the alphabet of characters, the higher the password strength. Passwords consisting of only numbers or only letters are no longer up to date. Combine letters, numbers, and special characters in passwords. It is also helpful to use different case letters (for example, a and A).
Step 4
Exclude vocabulary phrases. Try not to use dictionary phrases as your password. As a rule, the first thing attackers do in a password attack is a dictionary search.
Step 5
Estimate the entropy of the password. Password entropy is the degree of password complexity expressed in terms of information entropy. Calculating the entropy is reduced to calculating the logarithm of the number of possible combinations in base two (the number of possible combinations is equal to the degree, based on the size of the alphabet, and the exponent is the length of the password). Then the resulting value (the number of bits of entropy) can be estimated from the table of password entropy values and a conclusion can be drawn about its complexity. The higher the value of the password entropy, the more secure the password. For example, the password d8K * _0 # C ^ has 59.53 bits of entropy, and I like basketball has 100.82 bits.
