How secure is your password?

A computer could try to guess your password by using ‘brute force’ – this means trying out lots of passwords until it guesses the right one.

Let’s find out how long it would take a computer to guess your password.

• Go to howsecureismypassword.net, which is a website for finding out how secure your passwords are.

  

• Type in “letmein” (Let me in) as the password. You’ll see that a computer would guess this password instantly!

  

  You’ll also see some reasons why “letmein” isn’t a good password to use:

  • It’s a very common password (one of the 15 most used passwords). A computer would guess these first.

  • It contains words from the dictionary. A computer would also try these passwords first.

  • It’s very short. It would take a computer more time to guess a longer password.

  • It only contains letters. Passwords are more secure if they also contain numbers and punctuation.

• Try entering a dictionary word. How long would it take a computer to guess that password?