Page 80 - Cyber Safety C-8

A Google study found that 65% of people use the same password for various accounts.

STRONG PASSWORDS

A strong password is a carefully designed secret code that provides powerful protection against

cyber threats. It prevents hackers, automated programs, and malicious software from breaking
into digital accounts such as email, banking, social media, or cloud storage.

In cybersecurity, the strength of a password is measured by its complexity, length, and

unpredictability. A strong password makes it extremely difficult for attackers to guess using
techniques like brute-force attacks, dictionary attacks, or credential stuffing.

Qualities of a Strong Password

Some qualities of a strong password are as follows:
Use long password: A long password (minimum 12 characters) is harder for hackers to crack.

Mix of character types A strong password includes:

Special
Uppercase letters Lowercase letters Numbers symbols (!, @, #,
(A–Z) (a–z) (0–9)
$, %, &, *)

This combination increases password complexity and security.

Not Based on Personal Information: It avoids names, birthdates, mobile numbers, school or

pet names, etc. Hackers can easily guess such details from social media or public data.

Not a common word or simple pattern: Strong passwords avoid predictable patterns such
as 12345, abcde, qwerty, password, etc. Attackers use dictionary lists and pattern databases

to crack these quickly.
Unique for every account: The same password is not repeated across different websites.

If one account is compromised, the others remain protected.

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