{"id":690,"date":"2023-09-18T16:53:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T14:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betterweb.qwant.com\/2023\/09\/18\/how-to-choose-a-good-password\/"},"modified":"2023-09-18T16:53:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T14:53:55","slug":"how-to-choose-a-good-password","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betterweb.qwant.com\/en\/2023\/09\/18\/how-to-choose-a-good-password\/","title":{"rendered":"How to choose a good password?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you recently been hacked or are you worried about being hacked? The password is often the first barrier of protection to establish. But for it to be effective, it is still necessary to respect some golden rules (and remember them).<\/p>\n

1- Do not rely on the title of this article<\/h3>\n

To begin with, you will not actually need to choose just one password, but several. Ideally, it should be different for each site or platform you subscribe to. The goal is to protect your accounts in case of hacking: if one of them is compromised and you have chosen a unique password, the others will be more likely to be compromised as well.<\/p>\n

2- It’s not just the size that matters<\/h3>\n

Your passwords should be long AND complex. A minimum of 12 signs are recommended. In these 12 signs, you should include: uppercase, lowercase, numbers and finally, special characters.<\/p>\n

The latest NIST report<\/a>, considered a reference on the subject, warns sites not to force users to choose complex passwords. At issue: the phenomenon of “false complexity”. Most users would switch from “password” to “password-1” or “password-2”. No one will have a hard time thwarting this illusion of security.<\/p>\n

The same applies if you just write “P4ssw0rd”: this combination is so common, that it is not considered complex. If you want a really secure password, you will have to redouble your imagination.<\/p>\n

In addition, complexity can lead you to want to always use the same password, to remember it. This would also be counterproductive.<\/p>\n

3- Rule n\u00b03 of the password: do not talk about the password<\/h3>\n

It is also important that the content is not easy to guess, by a stranger through information published on social networks, or by malicious acquaintances. So we avoid: the name of his cat, his favorite music group whose concerts we post on Facebook several times a week, the name or date of birth of his child, etc.<\/p>\n

In the same way, forget about simple logical sequences like 123456, azerty, abcdef, etc. The Nordpass password manager has compiled a list of the 10 most used combinations<\/a>. There is this type of suite or the term “password”… They are to be banned at all costs, because they are too simple to guess.<\/p>\n

4- Throw away your post-it notes<\/h3>\n

To easily remember a complex password, you can use mnemonic means (be careful, this stings a little eyes):<\/p>\n