It is very important to create strong passwords, since they are the main security barrier that will prevent intruders from entering our accounts. However, it is quite common to see errors that cause those keys to be exposed. We are going to talk about one of them. Even if you think you have set a secure password, if you have made this small mistake it can mean that it is not as protected as you can imagine. Just by making one change, you will make it much more robust.
This is an investigation that they have carried out from Specops. They have looked at more than 800 million passwords in their database and have noticed something that matches more frequently in the keys that have been stolen. They assure that it is something typical that many people usually do for convenience, but that it makes passwords somewhat less secure.
easy keyboard patterns
What is this error? It’s all about creating keyboard patterns that are easier to remember. That is, when we create a password it is common to use one that we can remember more easily. What they do, according to this report, is use numbers, letters or characters that are closer together. For example, they could use letters around “qwertasdfzxcv” instead of going to the other side of the keyboard. Same with numbers and other symbols.
They have discovered, for example, that things like “qwerty” tend to appear more in passwords, even if there are other numbers and symbols. The same goes for key combinations like “zxcvb” and other similar blocks that are close together or close together. It’s easier to memorize, but at the same time it makes that password more likely to be exploited.
Keep in mind that ideally a key should be completely random, containing letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and other symbols. The idea is that there are a huge number of possible keys and it is extremely difficult to figure them out, even through brute force tools. If we make it easier for cybercriminals, even if it’s just by using close letters and numbers, we’re going to make our passwords less protected.
Generate random passwords
The best thing you can do is not to create keys yourself. Do not use passwords that you try to create yourself, no matter how secure they seem to you. Even if you don’t use things like your name or mobile, which is a very common mistake, creating passwords yourself can make you fall into the error of using keyboard patterns, using nearby letters or numbers.
If you really want to generate strong passwords, it’s best to make them 100% random. There is no better way to achieve this than to use keys that meet all security requirements. For this, you can use a password manager. Many have the option of generating access keys. You simply have to mark that they have uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, in addition to a minimum number of characters (ideally, it should have at least 12).
As you can see, you may have made the mistake of using a password that contains letters or numbers that are close together on the keyboard. That will make them easier to break. It is useful to make use of key managers to generate them totally random and not have problems. They can use many programs to crack passwords and the harder we make it for attackers, the better.
