The Importance of Strong Passwords and Creation Tips

Umid Mammadov
3 min readJul 21, 2023

Hello, everyone! I wish you all a great forum.

The Importance of Strong Passwords and Tips for Creating Them

Why is a strong password so crucial?

Imagine you are walking on the street, and someone asks for your personal belongings. Naturally, you wouldn’t want to give them away. Similarly, before creating a password, think about this scenario; someone might want to access your private information, peek into your life, or even steal your data. Hopefully, you’ve understood the importance by now.

Password Security: Fundamental Steps to Protect Your Data

Create complex passwords: You might have heard this term many times, and you may already understand it, but maybe you haven’t put it into practice. When creating strong passwords, use different characters. In other words, don’t just use simple passwords with letters and numbers; including special characters can make them even more secure.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on every application: Nowadays, many applications, including social media and games, offer 2FA. Enabling this feature can significantly enhance your account security, making it harder for attackers to compromise your accounts. So, it’s beneficial to use 2FA wherever possible.

Regularly change your passwords: This step may sound funny to you, but regularly changing your passwords can be an effective deterrent against attackers. It will make their task much more challenging, and they may even give up.

Stay away from suspicious emails and links: We all use emails in both work and daily life. Yes, you read it correctly; in this context, an email can intrude into your soul. So, refrain from clicking on suspicious links and be cautious. Doing so will make you more secure.

Examples of Strong Passwords

Generally, there are two main approaches to creating secure passwords:

  1. Text-based passwords: They are based on a combination of multiple real words. In the past, this approach involved using uncommon words with character substitutions, like “NuM4r4” for the word “number” or “84sk37b0L” for “basketball.” However, modern algorithms can detect this method. Instead, you can use an unrelated sequence of common words in an illogical order. Sometimes, a sentence with a pattern that only you know can also be used.

For instance, “iCe#MelT?in*SpacE” is an example of a text-based password (“ice melts in space”).

Text-based passwords are effective because:

  • They are easy to remember.
  • They can withstand dictionary-based attacks and brute force attacks.
  1. Random character strings: They consist of a mix of all types of characters, randomly generated. These passwords are extremely difficult to guess because there is no pattern. Even hacking tools may take trillions of years to crack them.

For example, “j4M_#vI5eT*k” can be a random character string (“jam # vice” is an example of a mnemonic clue to help remember it).

Random character strings are effective because:

  • They are nearly impossible to guess.
  • They are challenging to crack even for password cracking software.

Creating strong passwords is not just a suggestion; it’s a crucial step in safeguarding your digital identity and data. By following these tips, you can improve your account security and protect your online presence effectively. Always remember, a strong password is one of the fundamental building blocks of account security. By developing the habit of creating strong passwords, you can be safer in the digital world.

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Umid Mammadov

Cybersecurity researcher, hacking enthusiast, CTF and software enthusiast.