Creating secure passwords and testing their quality

Trustworthy Twaddle

Article from Issue 143/2012
Author(s):

Create secure passwords with the help of a password generator and check for quality at the same time.

When choosing a password, your own first name is not a good choice, especially if it’s Michael or Jennifer: These names are among the 25 most often used credentials worldwide. Security specialist Mark Burnett has taken more than six million passwords and created a list ranking the most popular examples (see the “25 Most Used Passwords” box). Users especially like to use password and 123456 as passwords.

Just like the other items in the list, these passwords are fairly easy to remember – unfortunately, though, they are anything but secure, for several reasons: They are all too short, contain only lowercase letters or numbers, and use terms that can be found in any English dictionary. Because these 25 passwords are used extremely often, an invader only has to try them out one after the other. The chances of gaining access in this way are good, and no specialized cracking programs or a powerful computers are needed.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Command Line: More Secure Passwords

    Even with encrypted drives, account passwords remain one of the prime security methods for any Linux system. With a little knowledge of the available commands and their options, you can make your account passwords more secure.

  • Pass Password Manager

    Pass is a simple shell script that helps you manage and synchronize passwords using Git.

  • Balancing Act

    CLI tools for generating passwords have many options that can help you strike a balance between ease of use and security.

  • Command Line – Pass

    The easy-to-use Pass offers password control at the command line. We show you how to set it up and use it.

  • Charly's Column

    Easy to remember but still safe – this is the classic conflict when it comes to choosing a password. The PWGen tool offers a sensible compromise.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News