Correct password. How to come up with a strong password that is hard to crack

There are practically no people left who use the Internet only to search for information. Mail, Skype, social networks - all these systems have become an integral part of “network” life.

And here we are faced with such concepts as login and password at almost every step. Without them, you will NOT be able to use mail, social networks (Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, Facebook), or Skype. Not to mention forums and dating sites.

If you think that you use at least some kind of communication system without them, then you are greatly mistaken. Apparently, your computer is configured in such a way that you do not encounter this data.

What is an account, login, password

I will explain using an example with an apartment building. Let's say there are 100 apartments. Each has its own number.

All apartments have approximately the same layout, but each of them is different from the other - different furniture, wallpaper, plumbing, personal belongings of the residents, and so on.

Apartment buildings are also different - three-story, five or more floors, with a different number of apartments and built according to different projects.

Here, communication services on the Internet are like those at home. Each system, be it mail, Skype, social network or something else, has its own “apartments”. They are called accounts.

Anyone can receive it and “furnish” it at their own request. But for this it is necessary that such an “apartment” be assigned a number and given a key to it. Here the number is the login, and the key is the password.

Login is a unique designation (number) in the system. And a password is the key to a given login, that is, something that can be used to open it.

Let's take an example with email. Let's say you have a mailbox on the Internet. This means that on some mail site (Yandex, Mail.ru, Gmail.com or another) you have your own personal account (apartment). It has a login (number), which is opened with a password (key).

Using this data, you log into your email account and work in it - read and send letters, delete them, and so on. Without a login and password, you simply cannot use your mail - the mail site will not open it.

This is a general rule for all online communication services! For mail, Skype, pages on social networks (Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, Facebook and others), forums, chats, blogs and any other places where you can create your own space. Each of these systems has logins with passwords, and if you want to be in it, then this data must be assigned to you.

If you don't know your login and password

It often happens that a person uses email, Skype, or has a page on a social network, but he DOES NOT know his login or password. How can this be?!

The thing is that computers and programs have now become very smart. They are able to remember the data that was once entered by them. And every time you open this or that system, it automatically “logs in,” that is, enters your account without even asking who you are.

That is, your data is in the memory of the site or program.

The most striking example is the Skype program. Having opened it, contacts, calls, and correspondence immediately appear on most computers. That is, the program does NOT ask for your account login and password - it already remembers them.

It would seem that this is very convenient - you don’t need to print every time. But, alas, it is not very safe, especially for novice users - you can easily lose access to your pages.

Some examples:

1. A relative came to visit you and asked you to use the computer to check his email or chat on Skype. To do this, he will have to log out of your account, otherwise he will not be able to log into his own. If you do not remember or do not know your data (login and password), then after such a visit you simply will not be able to log back in.
2. You have a page on Odnoklassniki. You can enter it simply by opening this site. It so happened that one of the family members (husband, child) also wanted to create such a page for himself. In order to receive it, he must log out of your account. After that, only his page will open on the computer - you may never get to yours.
3. The computer has crashed. As a result, you have to call a computer technician. If something more or less serious happens and you need to change the system, then you will no longer be able to open any of your pages/programs.

There are many more similar situations. Almost every day I receive several messages that people cannot log into their email, have lost their page on a social network, or their Skype cannot open.

The trouble is that very often it is impossible to return the login and password and the account disappears forever. And along with it all correspondence, contacts, files and other information. And all this is due to the fact that the user does not know or does not remember his login information.

Previously, there were no such problems, because sites and programs did not know how to remember this information. That is, a person had to enter his data every time he entered.

Of course, even now you can configure your computer in the same way. But this is quite expensive, especially if you communicate often.

Obtaining a new login and password

Let's say I don't have a personal page on Odnoklassniki, but I want to create one. To do this, I need to get my own login and password for this system. The procedure for obtaining them is called registration.

Registration means filling out a small form in which the user provides some information about himself. He also comes up with a login and password to enter this system. After correctly filling out the form, the user is issued a personal account.

Every site where you can get your page for free has registration. It is also available in popular programs (Skype, Viber and others). As a rule, a button with this name or a corresponding inscription is located in a visible place. This is what it looks like on the Odnoklassniki website:

Clicking on it will open a questionnaire. We fill it out and get an account. In the case of Odnoklassniki, this will be a personal page on this social network.

What should be the login and password?

As I already said, when registering in any system (mail, Skype, social network, forum, etc.), you must choose a username and password. In fact, you need to invent them.

Login. This is your unique name in the system. The key word here is unique, that is, it belongs to you and only you. No other user will be assigned the same name - this is simply impossible.

Therefore, difficulties often arise when choosing it. After all, there are many users, each login is unique, and therefore all simple names have already been sorted out.

Another difficulty is that in most systems this name can only consist of Latin letters and/or numbers without spaces. That is, it is impossible to come up with a Russian version - there must only be English letters.

For example, I want to get an account on Skype. When registering, of course, you need to provide a login. I want to choose the name "ignorant". Since Russian letters are not accepted, I type neumeka and see that this name is already taken.

What to do. There are two options: either use your imagination and find a free login at random, or use one of the names that the system offers.

The fact is that now many sites and programs are trying to help the user choose a name. They automatically select and show available options.

I advise you to take your choice seriously and not waste time on it.

Remember: you cannot change your login! You can only create a new account with a new login.

Which login is “good”:

• Not very long
• No periods, hyphens, underscores
• Catchy

Why is this important? The fact is that often the name in the system plays an important role in communication. For example, it is used to form the name of an email.

Let's say I decided to open my mail on Yandex. I go to the website yandex.ru and register. I choose the name in the system neumeka. So my new email address will be [email protected]

And here people often make a mistake - they choose, to put it mildly, not very suitable names. All sorts of “handsome guys”, “honeys”, “pussycats” and the like.

For example, I receive a letter from a seemingly respectable person, the director of a large company, and his email address is pupsik74. And how can I take this “babe” seriously?!

Logins with numbers are also often chosen. It's okay if they are constant, for example, the year of birth. But quite often people indicate the current year (for example, 2015) or the number of their full years. But this figure will change, but the name in the system will remain the same...

For example, I receive a message from a person with the login natusik12. The first thing I think is that the user is inexperienced. But that's not the worst thing. The problem is that usually, when using numbers in names, people indicate either the year of their birth or the number of complete years. And I conclude that a twelve-year-old girl is writing to me.

Naturally, I begin to take her age into account when writing my answer. But it turns out that it is not a girl who is writing to me, but an adult woman, a candidate of medical sciences. And I talk to her like she’s a little girl.

How to choose a login. In fact, you can choose absolutely any name. At least baby cats, at least with numbers. But it’s better to “stress yourself” once - after all, it may well be that you do it for many years.

Moreover, it's free. But mobile operators, for example, charge money for choosing a beautiful phone number.

When choosing a login, I recommend doing the following: take a few letters of your real name and add a few letters of your last name to them. We try different options (at the beginning, middle, end) until we get a free login. If all else fails, use your imagination, but within reason :)

Of course, a lot still depends on what kind of system you choose a name for. If it is mail or Skype, then it is better that it is “good”. But if this is some kind of service where communication is not expected, then you can specify absolutely anything.

Yes, and more! It is not at all necessary that the login be the same in different systems. Therefore, feel free to create different names on different sites - this is a common thing. After all, in one system the selected name will be free, but in another it may already be taken.

How to choose a password. Let me remind you that this is a secret code with which you will open your account (mail, social network page, Skype). This is something like a PIN code for a plastic card or a key to an apartment or car.

It must consist only of Latin letters and/or numbers. No punctuation or spaces. Letter case matters too. That is, if a password is assigned that contains a large (capital) letter, but when typing it the user types a small one, then this will be an error - he will not be allowed into the account.

The password must be complex! Ideally, it should consist of at least ten characters, including numbers, large and small letters. And there are no sequences - everything is scattered. Example: Yn8kPi5bN7

The simpler the password, the easier it is to crack. And if this happens, the hacker will gain access to the account. Moreover, you most likely won’t even know about it. But a person will be able, for example, to read your personal correspondence or even participate in it.

One of the most common passwords that users specify when registering is their year of birth. Finding such a “key” is not at all difficult. It is also very common to use a set of numbers or letters on the keyboard, arranged in order (such as 123456789 or qwerty).

By the way, you can even find a list of the most common passwords on the Internet. Here are the six most common: 123456789, qwerty, 111111, 1234567, 666666, 12345678.

Where and how to change login and password

Login cannot be changed! You can only create a new account with a new name.

But all contacts, messages, files that were in the old account will remain in it. It is extremely difficult to transfer them, and in some cases it is completely impossible.

Moreover, you will have to warn your interlocutors about the move - they say, do not write to me at the old address, but write to the new one. And it is worth considering that some people may ignore this request for one reason or another.

Therefore, if you already have a login, but it is unsuccessful, choose the lesser of two evils. Of course, when there are few contacts and they are not important (or there are none at all), then you can calmly give yourself a different name and forget about the old one. But if the name is many years old and you actively use it, then it is better to leave everything as it is.

The password, as a rule, can be changed quite easily. To do this, you just need to open your account settings and select the appropriate item.

Usually, to change it, you need to specify the old version, and then type the new one twice. If the data is entered correctly, then after clicking on the “Save” button (or something similar), the password will change. This means that it will no longer be possible to log in using the old one.

Your email password is your key.

The password should be simple enough for you to remember, but not so simple that it could be hacked and someone else could use your address.

Main mistakes when creating a password

• No copies of data.
• Programs are not updated (often the update patches up holes in the code so that a virus does not get in and take your passwords)
• When opening a letter from an unknown sender, it’s stupid to open all the links,
• Using one password for everything (it got hacked and you lost everything),
• They don’t use a password manager, they just remember the password and then forget it,
• Add strangers as friends (anyone who asks) on social networks.

Passwords that are often hacked

• email, because this way you can access all the services for which you have registered,
• ICQ, especially short numbers that sell, or simply bully on your behalf,
• Skype, for the same reason,
• VKontakte.

Passwords that are easy to crack

• date of birth,
• 111, 333, 777 or something like that,
• 12345 or qwert - keyboard letters in a row.
• simple names - sergey, vovan, lena ...
• Russian word typed in English encoding, for example. Sergey will turn out to be Cthutq.

The most common passwords in the world

1. 123456 (290,731)
2. 12345 (79,078)
3. 123456789 (76,790)
4. Password (61,958)
5. iloveyou (51,622)
6. princess (35,231)
7. rockyou (22,588)
8. 1234567 (21,726)
9. 12345678 (20,553)
10. abc123 (17,542)
11. Nicole (17,168)
12. Daniel (16,409)
13. babygirl (16,094)
14. monkey (15,294)
15. Jessica (15,162)
16. Lovely (14,950)
17. Michael (14,898)
18. Ashley (14,329)
19. 654321 (13,984)
20. Qwerty (13,856)

Protected password

• long (8-12-15 characters),
• it is difficult to crack a password that contains CAPITAL LETTERS, small letters and numbers (not the date of birth!),
• not from the dictionary, that is, not a word, not a name...
• a separate password for each individual service.
• not associated with you (address. cell number...).

Insiders

There should not be identical passwords

• for email access,
• email payment systems (WebMoney, RBK Money, Yandex.Money...).

Same passwords

• A simple password and login for registration in all temporary and unimportant places. Let's say we want to download something on this site, but they require us to register. There is little chance that we will go there at all, we have nothing to protect, so we write something simple and unique (so that it is free). Eg. login sim-sim password open up.
• Strong password for all forums and social networks, etc.

The most complex and protected password

1. revfad.com/oldflip.html - Flip- We enter the text into the form and get it upside down. Can be used anywhere in text format.
2. fliptext.org - Flip Text- Want to write text upside down? Here's a tool for that. Just write something and this amazing place turns your words around. We copy and use.

Unicode Character Table

The best site for Unicode.
Firstly, there is an interactive table of symbols, which can be viewed either in its entirety, scrolling, or in fragments.

How does this work

Tools

1. HTML encoder - we translate text into HTML characters so that they are displayed correctly on all sites and vice versa - we translate HTML characters into normal text, - HTML encoder
2. Converting text to Unicode characters and vice versa - \u042e\u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0434,
3. Flipping the text - ɯɔʞǝɯ wǝɐʚiҺɐdoʚǝdǝu,
4. Unicode character table generator - select the range, output format and get it.

The longer we are on the Internet, the more passwords we have. People get “overgrown” with passwords when registering on different sites, which is why novice users have “simple” questions. How many passwords are needed, or maybe one password is enough? And if you need a lot of passwords, then among this mass of passwords is there the most important one and which one?

Let's start with the fact that registration is usually required to gain access to additional services on any site or even to basic services, such as on sites with government services. And sometimes the webmaster just decided that all users should register on his site. So, in two sentences, I retold the essence of the article on the sites.

What is the main password?

As you know, when registering (e-mail address), you must provide a login and password. For clarity, let’s take as an example (but in reality you need to come up with your own password)

The password here is given as an example, you definitely need your own password, at least 6 characters.

Registration on all sites takes place once. Next, go to your Facebook page by entering your e-mail and password in field 8 in Fig. 1.

Registration on government websites

It’s not an easy story to register on a government website, because it starts with an unconfirmed account, and then you will need a confirmed one. For example, let’s take the State Services website, details about registration on this site. This article is only about a small important part when registering – about passwords.

To register on the State Services website, enter your real first name, last name, and email (1, 2, 3 in Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. The first step when registering on the State Services website

Next, you need to open your email and find a letter in which you will need to click on a link to confirm that you are the owner of the mail. After this, you will need to come up with a password for the State Services website, and it is also advisable that this password be different from the password for your email.

For example, enter for registration on the State Services website

• e-mail [email protected]
• password Zdorovo!7

As you can see, the password for the State Services website is different from the password for email. You will have to come up with your own password, the password specified above cannot be used, it is known to everyone who reads this article.

Password in your personal account on the website

As an example, consider the third site, which has a personal account. Those who have a home phone from Rostelecom can register on the Rostelecom website. There in your personal account you can

• receive invoices to your e-mail,
• pay them
• use bonuses for free calls,
• call a technician for repairs
• etc.

But to access this, you must first register on the site so that you can have a personal account there. And to register, you will again need an e-mail and password. You can enter

• [email protected]– in field 1 in Fig. 3,
• new password Telefon!56 – in field 2 in Fig. 3:

Rice. 3. Registration on the Rostelecom website

• You can find out more about your personal account in Rostelecom.
• If you decide to give up your home phone temporarily or completely, take a look.

One password for e-mail and all other sites?

Some users enter the same password everywhere. However, if you use the same password everywhere, it simplifies everything. Usually, by email it is easy to track all the sites where a person has registered.

And then a fraudster who has gained access to such confidential information can use all this wealth to send spam, to access funds, to personal pages on social networks and to everything else that is possible. After all, it’s enough to just enter the same email address and the same password everywhere - just a gift even for an inexperienced hacker...

To register on the site you need to create a password

Before coming up with a password, let me allow myself a little humor:

Rice. 4. Humor: how to come up with a password to register on the site

The password really must contain numbers, letters (capital and uppercase), punctuation marks (more precisely, those characters that can be typed in English case by clicking on the number and holding down the Shift key).

This article already provides examples of such passwords (don’t use them, come up with others):

• ParoL9!
• Pogoda8)
• Zdorovo!7
• Telefon!56

I don’t remember my login and password, but I need to restore or delete everything

A few minutes before the publication of this article, I received a comment with a question from a user:

How can I delete old accounts from Facebook that are registered under my first and last name? I don't know the accounts and passwords.
And there is also an unnecessary VKontakte account, I don’t remember anything either.
Is it possible to leave Google forever? I would be fine without the Internet. Who should I contact?

Such questions, when users do not remember either their login or password, but want to recover again or, on the contrary, completely delete, are asked quite often. What can you answer here?

You need to remember at least your e-mail, then you can try to recover your password, and then delete it or, on the contrary, recover it. And if there is neither a login (e-mail) nor a password, then the simplest thing is to forget about it and not remember what is essentially forgotten anyway. If you need to recover, then sometimes you can just try to start all over again, register “from scratch,” if possible.

In general, passwords are your keys to the locks on all sites where there is registration and login using a password. Therefore, write down your passwords or save them in a way convenient for you. You shouldn't count on memory, it's a utopia.

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The Internet is a wide network that unites hundreds of thousands of resources, sites, services and forums.

Every day many users come there, each of whom needs to be identified and designated for ease of interaction.

Even at the time of the birth of the World Wide Web, special questionnaires were used for this - profiles.

For them, each user, in addition to his personal data, selected a login and password.

Thanks to this information, he made his page unique and thus identified himself with it.

What is it?

Relatively speaking, Login is your unique identifier by which the system and users recognize you.

In most forums, your login is also your nickname - a nickname that is displayed as a display of the author of the message or post. This part of the profile should be unique for each visitor.

A password is a code phrase that, if entered correctly, the system will recognize you and transfer you to your forum or website profile.

Everyone has their own password, but they can be the same or similar to each other.

What is this for?

This data gives you full access to your profile - a page on a website or forum where information about you is listed and with which you can comfortably conduct a dialogue.

Having a login and password ensures that no one other than the account owner will be able to access and use it.

This is especially true for payment systems whose profiles store personal important information on wallets and cards.

In them, a login and password are simply required - otherwise this data will in fact be freely available.

In other words, account login information is needed to prevent its use by attackers.

How to create a login and password correctly

Since now the capabilities of many sites have increased significantly, users have to leave more and more information about themselves.

To prevent it from falling into third hands, it is very important to set the data correctly - come up with a unique name and, what is much more important, create a complex password that cannot be guessed.

All this happens during the registration process, where in the special Login and Password columns you will be required to write the necessary information.

The last thing you need to think about is the username - set what you want.

The most important thing is that it does not overlap with other users - in which case the system itself will say that the name is taken.

With a password, things are a little more complicated.

Here are some tips that can help you create code words:

1. In addition to the obvious Latin alphabet, try to use letters of different case, as well as numbers. This will significantly complicate the password, making the spread of characters wider and more difficult to crack.
2. It is even better if different characters in the code word do not appear in a row. Try to use as few identical letters and symbols as possible to make the password more difficult to guess.
3. Try to keep the number of characters from 6-8. This is the optimal amount that cannot be hacked or picked up without using special programs.
4. Do not use standard combinations of letters and numbers - type qwerty1234 or 1234qwerty. Despite the fact that these are complex combinations in appearance, they are among the first to be tested. Ideally, the password should be a phrase or word without repeated letters, several capitals, and several numbers.
5. For better memorization, you can use the names of your favorite books, groups or authors as keywords. If you also add numbers, it will be very difficult to hack.

It is worth saying that most modern sites are equipped with a password complexity diagnostic function.

What does it mean? In a special window you will be shown its complexity and given recommendations if the keyword turns out to be too simple.

Most often, registration will simply not complete if it is not of sufficient complexity - and therefore you will have to add capital letters and numbers.

How to protect yourself from data theft

Of course, it’s not enough to just come up with a complex username and password. There are a lot of ways to steal data from your computer - so it’s worth thinking about some kind of security precautions.

These rules are simple and must be followed, especially if you are dealing with social networks and accounts from virtual wallets and mobile banks:

1. Never give your information to anyone. Even if the person who asks for them introduces himself as the forum administrator. To solve most problems, the administrator does not require any data, so there is a high probability that you are dealing with a scammer.
2. By analogy with the previous point, do not enter data anywhere other than the forum to which it belongs.
3. Keep a close eye on what gets into and runs on your computer. Download files only from trusted places, and if the antivirus shows the presence of malware in the archive or distribution, it is better to delete it. Since passwords are most often stolen through hidden programs, install licensed games and software purchased or downloaded from reliable sources.
4. Try not to enter your data on other computers, and if this happens, be sure to exit from there as soon as you finish the session. In this way, you will protect not only your social networks from the humor of your friends, but also the theft of data from . Try not to log into important profiles anywhere other than your own home.
5. Enable the additional authentication feature. On many forums, to log into your profile from a new device you now need to enter a code that is sent to your mobile phone. If you enable this function, your account will always be safe, since to enter it, attackers will have to steal your mobile phone and enter a code.

Examples of complex and simple passwords

Below are the code words, and a little explanation of why they are considered complex or simple:

We hope that with these examples and tips, you have a better understanding of how important it is to come up with a good username and strong password.

The most important thing to remember is that the security of personal data on the Internet comes first!

Today I want to touch on a very important topic that concerns any user who works on a computer and has access to the Internet.

And this topic concerns passwords that we are required to enter in almost all services, from email and social networks to a personal account on the government services website.

And, although the password policy on many sites may differ slightly (which characters can be entered when entering a password and which cannot), all services without exception insist that we use complex passwords.

Very often we simply ignore this warning. Why? In my opinion, for two reasons.

The first reason is simply laziness.

Well, the second reason, rather, partially follows from the first. It's much easier for us to remember simple password "123456 " or "qwerty", since it is simple and convenient for us to press 6 keys in succession rather than remember difficult type password "!QjhRt^&018@asW", consisting of 15 characters ( , numbers and special characters). Moreover special characters for this password ( !^& And @ ) you still need to find it on the keyboard, which is not always possible the first, second, and sometimes tenth time (your humble servant is no exception to this rule).

So why do you need to enter complex passwords? How to make a complex password so that it is easy to remember?
I want to talk to you about this and much more in this lesson.

First about logins

The Internet is remarkable in that we ourselves can come up with a “name” under which, firstly, we will be recognized on the Internet, and secondly, we will be entered into forms in which we are asked to enter our username and password.

This could be your real name, or it could be something original that you came up with.

There are some problems with real names on the Internet today. Real names are practically all taken. What does "busy" mean?

One good example is creating an email account on any email service.

For example, I want to create a mailbox on the yandex.ru mail service. And I want my email address to be [email protected].

Beautiful, understandable, recognizable and easy to remember.

I'm trying to do this. I enter it into the field “Create a login” your name in Latin - Oleg.

The service tells me that "Sorry, login is busy". And it offers me 10 options for free logins.

But all of them do not suit me for one simple reason - they are too long. Moreover, it asks you to enter your mobile phone number as a unique login. It turns out that everyone who receives my letters will know my mobile phone number. Is this what you want? For example, I don't want to.

OK then. I’ll overcome my laziness and bias towards long logins and add my last name with a dot. Judging by the options offered by the service, you can use the dot in the login. I enter Oleg.Ivashinenko.

The result is similar to the previous one. It turns out that there is already an account on the Yandex mail service with the same first and last name.

This means I need to come up with my own unique name, which, most importantly, I liked myself.

At one time, I racked my brain for a long time on how to come up with a name for myself so that I would definitely not forget it and so that it would be more or less sonorous.

In the end, I took the first two letters of my first and last name and got Nick(nickname - from the English nickname, which means “another name”, “pseudonym”) oliv.

But over time, this nickname was also occupied by the services where I registered. Then I added two more letters from my middle name and it turned out to be a nickname olivur.

For the last 10 years I have used this nickname during registrations without any problems. So if I have a postal email address in the form [email protected], that will also be good.

I enter into the form my original, as I believe, login “olivur”.

Busy too. I don't want to give up. I add the magic seven to the name.

Everything worked out. Basically, the email address [email protected] looks good too. You can continue registration.

True, I won’t do this, since I already have 2 mailboxes on Yandex. Enough for now. Let's move on to passwords.

I have nothing to hide. I'm an honest person.

Very often on various forums, especially on forums on computer and Internet security, I often come across comments like “I have nothing to hide. I'm an honest person."

And, although I usually don’t comment on such statements, one time I still couldn’t stand it and wrote something like this: “Well, since you have nothing to hide and you are an honest person, then write your login And password from this forum where we communicate."

Do you think there was a response to my comment? Right. There wasn't. This means there is something to hide. And if there is something to hide, then in the context of this phrase the forum member is no longer an honest person.

Okay, this is all sophistry.

In fact, all information relating to each user should still remain confidential. Starting from the passport number and TIN to the email address, as well as logins and passwords for various resources and services on the Internet.

At the initial stage of mastering a computer, it is really difficult to understand why confidentiality is needed. But with time, understanding will come.

Let me give you a few of my own examples.

For the second year now I have not gone to the post office or Sberbank to pay utility bills.

I make all payments from home using my home computer. These are the so-called online services of various banks.

Russian Standard Bank calls its service “Bank in your pocket”, VTB24 calls it “Telebank”, etc. And, although the names may be different, the essence is the same - everything is very convenient and transparent.

To conduct financial transactions, I have three plastic cards - salary, debit and credit.

I use the debit card as a “passbook” and very rarely pay in the store. Very convenient. There are no fees for maintaining cards or accounts. Well, interest also accrues on the accumulated funds.

I pay all payments using my salary card. Well, if suddenly the time comes to pay the receipt, and there is nothing on the salary card, then I pay with a credit card. Well, from my next paycheck I’ll transfer the required amount to my credit card so that no interest is charged.

So why am I telling all this?

I do all this (payment of utility bills using ready-made templates, transfer of money from account to account) in the personal accounts of the relevant banks. Well, access to these personal accounts carried out according to logins and passwords.

Since this is my personal finance, I am very keen that no one except me knows my credentials in these banks. And, although when performing financial transactions banks require confirmation codes, which they send me via SMS to my mobile phone, my passwords are quite complex.

And, although, just in case, they are written down in my , I remember these passwords. But more on that a little later.

Another illustrative example.

Just recently I registered on the government services website. It turned out to be quite an interesting and necessary portal for me, at least.

I was surprised to discover that I had a tax debt. But the surprise quickly passed, as I remembered that I paid the land tax too late. And I got a penalty. My debt to the state a month ago was already 12 rubles. 75 kop.

At the same time, I looked to see if I had any traffic fines. It turned out that there is one. Although I have not yet received any paper by mail.

Although I’m not going abroad yet, I still paid off these debts so that my soul would be at peace.

The resource turned out to be interesting. You can easily get a foreign passport, register your car, enroll your child in kindergarten, etc. etc.

So, as login this resource uses the number SNILS A. This login is truly unique and only I know it.

SNILS is the Insurance Number of the Individual Personal Account of the insurance certificate of the state pension insurance. Well, so that no one had access to my personal information, I had to come up with a really complex but memorable password.

How passwords are cracked

I'm not a hacker or a computer security expert. But I am familiar with the basic principles of information security. And you should know them. This will help save a lot of nerve cells in the future.

I will not deny that a hacker (the largest specialist in the field of computer system security), if he wants to hack your computer, will do it. Provided, of course, that you yourself are not an expert in this field.

One thing consoles me. To be honest, neither you nor I are needed by hackers at all. Take my word for it. They have global interests.

But as for us mere mortals, quite common programs on the Internet work with us and are available to any user.

I have already described how such programs get onto our computers in the lesson “”. Therefore, I will not repeat myself.

Now I want to tell you about one of the types of such programs that select passwords on various information resources.

This type of program is called "Brutforce". This name comes from a combination of two English words "brute force" , which mean "Total overkill" or "Brute force method".

Such password guessing programs use special "dictionaries". What are "dictionaries"?

A “dictionary” is a regular text file (or several files), each line of which contains a “word”. For example:

password

So here it is. Such programs take each “word” from such a “dictionary” in turn and substitute it in the password field until this “word” matches the “word” you created that you use as a password.

Depending on the complexity of your password, such a program may take from a few seconds to hundreds of years. Or maybe he won’t be able to pick it up at all.

So if you have a password "qwerty" or, let's say "z,kjrj"(word "apple", typed in English), then this type of program will take seconds to guess the password.

So what to do? How do you know how simple or complex your password is?

In fact, it's not all doom and gloom.

Coming up with a complex password

Computer security specialists are also not sitting idle. They conduct ongoing analysis of various malware. In particular, programs like “Brute force”.

And at the moment there are already a lot of resources on the Internet where you can check the uniqueness of your password.

Let's use one of these resources as an example and see how to create a “complex” but easy-to-remember password.

Let’s choose http://password.ru/ as such a resource (More services for checking password strength: 2ip.ru, howsecureismypassword.net)

Another resource, the link to which was sent to me by reader Mary: https://ru.vpnmentor.com

I will tell you about one of the algorithms. But you can show your imagination and come up with your own algorithm.

Let, for example, your name is Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich. We “come up” with a password based on our last name, since we definitely remember this word from childhood - ivanov

Judging by the site's response, cracking such a password will take less than a second. Add an exclamation point (or any other special character) before the last name - !ivanov

Already better. To crack such a password, the program will need 12 minutes 57 seconds.

Add an exclamation point after the last name - !ivanov!

The result is also not a very complex password, which can be cracked in 12 hours and 31 minutes.

Add the numbers 12345 to the end - !ivanov!12345

As you can see from the message, such a password can be cracked in 7 and a half million years.

Although the password turned out to be complex, it is quite easy to remember. These are roughly the same algorithms for creating passwords that I use myself.

There is another option for creating complex passwords that are easy to remember.

For example, this morning before work, the cartoon “The Scarlet Flower” was shown on TV. Why not a password? Easy to remember.

But, of course, it is not advisable to leave such a password. Let's change it. Let's type the name of the cartoon in English case with a small letter without a space: fktymrbqwdtnjxtr and check it on the website.

It would take about half a million years to crack such a password.

As you can see, it is not at all difficult to come up with a complex, easy-to-remember password.

That's all for today. Good luck and creative success to everyone. 🙂

With respect to all my readers and subscribers

Oleg Ivashinenko

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