Insert your password to test it's strength.
Insert your password to test it's strength.
Passwords are the key to everything you like to keep private. From your banking, email, to social media accounts, a password keeps all of those in check and safe. However, some of you don’t give it enough time to think of a good passcode, or just don’t have the tendency to create strong ones. Well, by doing so, you’re compromising everything. Hackers are everywhere and you’d never know until it hits you. That’s why it’s highly recommended to create a strong password to shield everything you hold dear. But how? How do people know that this password is the one to go with? Simple, use WhatIsMyIP’s Strong Password Meter. What’s that and how can you use it? Read on and find out.
Password Strength Meter – The What and the How!
This tool is designed to assess the strength of password strings a user enters. The meter indicates whether your password is easy or next to impossible to crack. You can’t rely on what you come up with because let’s face it, it’s going to be something easy to remember.
You’ll either use a name, date of birth and stuff like that. I don’t recommend that. In fact, a study found that the meters do improve user passwords on a grand scale. In case you’re wondering, check this Blase Ur from Carnegie Mellon University study.
It’s all in the colors. When the password you enter turns Red, that’s an alert. Your password is very easy to crack or hack. It’s all based on what you enter.
If there’s a unique combination, the color will change eventually. For example, if you entered a password using different combinations of numbers, uppercase letters, and symbols, you will get good results. And by that, I mean a Green password, which is a Go.
On the other hand, if you enter a short password or consecutive numbers that can easily be memorized, the meter will deduct points and give you a red alert once more. That’s all.
Using the Password Strength Meter
Now that you know what a Strength Meter is and does, let me teach you how to use it. I’ve added a personal touch for fun by commenting on each and every level of your password’s strength. Don’t hate me after this. Note that our Meter does not store the passwords you submit. So, whatever you’re typing, you’ll be the only one seeing it.
- At first, you should know what the tool looks like. There you go.
- Now, a soon as you type something in the empty box, your text will change in color depending on the strength of the password. There are six phases in this process presented with different colors. Here they are:
- Red: A very-easy-to-guess password. Anyone, I mean anyone can get a hold of it and access your private information.
- Light Orange: It’s like you’re not putting any effort into it. The password is still very simple and crackable. Add more variety to your code.
- Orange: A more secure password has been submitted. However, it still needs a bit more variation to make a strong one.
- Yellow: Adding some numbers and symbols will change the password’s color to yellow. That means your halfway there to a secure passkey.
- Light Green: If you submit a few question marks and numbers, your password will be viewed as Good by the Strength Meter.
- Green: Finally, creating a strong and secure password will give you a Dark Green color. Now, you’re good to go, you’re safe.
- Red: A very-easy-to-guess password. Anyone, I mean anyone can get a hold of it and access your private information.
- Finally, you can copy the password you’ve submitted, and use it for your account. Remember, don’t use the same password on different accounts (We’ll be talking about that later in the article).
Be Involved – Protect Your Password
Using a Password Strength Meter is probably the easiest way to come up with a strong password. It targets all kinds of users, whether they’re familiar with technology or not, they can use this tool to ensure that their passwords are safe to use.
A Strong Password Meter comes in the form of a visual gauge – color-coded to show users whether their password is weak or not. However, the Meter on its own is just a tool to help you out, protecting the password you generated is something you should do on your own.
So, here are a couple of things you can do or avoid doing even if you have an already strong password:
- Avoid using the same password for different accounts. Imagine if a hacker gets ahold of your email, all your other accounts are in for the taking as well.
- I always say that the length of the password is not important as long as there is variation. Well, include that and a couple of symbols to make at least a 12-character long password. Yeah, quality and quantity altogether.
- Stay away from cliches, such as including your name or family name in the password. Generally speaking, that would be the first thing any hacker will think of aside from your birthday.
- Whenever a website asks to save your data, just say no. You can enter your password whenever you visit the website, it’s not that big of a deal.
- You can live without checking your email at a friend’s house or a library. Never submit your password on a device that’s not yours.
- This is an important one. If you feel like checking your accounts in a coffee shop, i.e., using a public network, you better do that with extra precautions. Use a Virtual Private Network to encrypt your data.
- If your password is very hard to recall, use Password Managers, especially if you have multiple passwords for several accounts.
- Try to log in using incognito mode every now and then. It’s a more secure way, especially if you’re accessing your bank accounts.
- No matter how strong your password is, set a time every 4 to 5 weeks and change it. You don’t have to change the whole thing, just alter a few symbols.
- The 2-step authentication is an important feature that warns you if your account gets accessed somewhere else. So, keep that on all the time.
- This might sound dull, but keep your devices locked when you’re not in front of them. That’s not all – your devices should be constantly up to date (Operating system and antivirus).
- Don’t visit any link in an email. Some of them might be phishing emails with a fake link. If the email is coming from your bank, you can visit the official website manually without following the link.
- Be extra careful when you’re downloading applications. Some of them are maliciously planted there by hackers to steal your data.
Strong Password Meter – Parting Words
The internet is a scary place to roam around with an easy-to-hack password. You now have effective tips to help you secure it, but before you protect it, create it. You can now have a strong password using WhatIsMyIp.Network’s Password Strength Meter.
It won’t take that much time. Just keep on tampering with your password, adding symbols and numbers along with letters until it turns Dark Green. After that, you’re all set to go.