Researchers Propose New Password Guidelines for Better Security

Security researchers propose new password guidelines to strengthen security across both consumers and corporate users. The new proposal favors longer strings rather than using complex characters.

Password security can be strengthened by length rather than complexity

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have proposed that good security practices regarding password management should rely on lengthier strings rather than short and complex ones. This not only simplifies the easier remembering for users, as they have to use logic and simpler strings in the passwords but also apparently results in a better security footprint.

The results of several cases show that the brute force attacks that the criminal users use against the password protected systems and files fail to guess longer passwords. To a computer program, a string made up of a poetic verse is many times harder to crack than a short, but complex string of special characters.

Overwhelmingly complex strings are hard to remember, and that causes much more problems than security assurance. There are several case scenarios where due to forgotten or lost passwords important services are unable to be accessed. It’s difficult for many contemporary users to remember long and strings which lead to the bad habits of writing them down or reusing them for several web services and sites. Nowadays passwords are not the best solution for security; computer users are advised whenever possible to use two-factor authentication for best protection. But when it comes to passwords, maybe it would be easier for a lot of users to try these new guidelines.

It would be easy for people to utilize longer and simpler passwords as those can contain information that they find easy to remember. Users can opt to use comical and even strange words such as“IamExtravertSensingFeelingPerceiving“or “PleaseIwantToaccessMyOnlineProfileWhichIMadeInAugust2013”. Give this new technique a try, it might solve the memory problems that you may experience while trying to create a password.

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Author : Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.


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