Last year cyber.gov.au came out with the strongly titled article “Why it’s time to ditch your one password for passphrases”.
We agree!
Our mailboxes require a password or passphrase that includes:
- 1. lowercase
- 2. CAPITALS
- 3. Numb3rs
- 4. Special character$.
We also require the pass to be at least 13 characters long. The minimum length will likely increase in the future too.
Create a passphrase by generating 3 or more random words. A simple 4 word passphrase will take centuries to crack where a 13 character password can take considerably less.
Glance at the table below and decide for yourself which is easier to memorise…
| Example 13 character passwords with numbers, caps and special characters | Estimated time to crack |
|---|---|
| $ybh&2uh3H4p | 31 years to crack |
| dP@iZ@RA$A@j5 | 31 years to crack |
| Example passphrases with numbers, caps and special characters | Estimated time to crack |
| Exert-Deforest-Book-Smartness2 | Centuries to crack |
| Dreamlike-Array5-Truck | Centuries to crack |
| Passion-Shrug-Overstock7 | Centuries to crack |
Of course you need to make up your own. Make sure it is:
- 1. Long
- 2. Unpredictable
- 3. Unique.
Learn more about passphrases from Cyber.gov.au.
NSW.GOV.AU offer a password strength tester that will also tell you if a password has already been exposed or hacked.
You can even turn passphrase generation into a dice game: https://www.eff.org/dice
Many password managers have online random passphrase tools:
https://bitwarden.com/password-generator/
https://1password.com/password-generator/