How secure are your passwords?

Hackers are getting more sophisticated all the time.   Let's look at a few common passwords and the maximum time it would take a hacker to figure out each password using a simple key search attack:

Passwords using just numbers (0123456789):

• 2-4 number passwords etc: Less then 1 Second
• 5-6 number passwords:  About 10 seconds
• 7 number passwords: 17 Minutes 

Passwords using the standard alphabet all lower case or all upper case (abcdefghijklmnopqurstuvwxyz):

• 3 letter passwords: Less then 2 Seconds
• 4 letter passwords:  Less then 46 Seconds
• 5 letter passwords: 20 Minutes
• 6 letter passwords: 8.5 Hours
• 7 letter passwords: 9 days

Passwords using a combination of numbers and letters all upper case and all lower case or all upper case ( 0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqurstuvwxyz):

• 3 character passwords or less: 4 Seconds or less
• 5 character passwords: 1.5 Hours

 Passwords using letters and numbers with mixed upper and lower case combinations:

• 4 characters: 24.5 Minutes
• 5 characters: 1 Day
• 7 characters: 11 Years

Below is a list of some of the most common passwords used on the internet:

• 123456
• 12345
• pass
• iloveyou
• password
• abc123 

By avoiding common passwords and using a combination of letters and numbers in both upper and lower case you can greatly reduce your risk of getting hacked.  Throw in a unusual character like a $ or ! and your odds are even less of being hacked.  Most experts recommend a minimum of 7 characters as well.

Learn more about password strength here