MOST POPULAR THIS WEEK
·Updated:
·

We all know our passwords probably aren't as safe as they should be (looking at you, people who have used their pet's name plus their birthdate for the last 10 years) — but would it take a hacker nine months to guess yours, or 25 seconds?

This chart, created by Reddit user hivesystems with data sourced from HowSecureIsMyPassword.net, shows how long it would take a hacker to "brute force" their way into your account, depending on how long your password is and what kinds of characters it includes. What they would do is run a program that systematically attempts every possible permutation of the letters, numbers and symbols involved in the password until it hits the right one.

As the chart makes plain, for certain passwords, breaking into your account would be pretty much instantaneous. But the longer your password is, and the wider the variety of characters you use, the longer it'll take, to the point that you really don't need to worry about the security of your accounts. (Unless there's a data leak, but that's another story.)

[Via Reddit]

Want more stories like this?

Every day we send an email with the top stories from Digg.

Subscribe