Longer Passwords Are Better, But Still Not Good Enough
That long password isn’t keeping you better protected Conventional password wisdom says the longer the password, the better. But that’s only partly true. An unusual new finding from Specops Software is that even 15-character passwords are cracked fairly often: it’s the eighth-most common length of password to be compromised. Here’s what this new research shows, what it means for you, and the steps you can take to keep your business safe. The Findings The company evaluated over 4 billion unique compromised passwords for the study, so it’s pretty safe to trust their findings. Of those 4 billion cracked passwords, 67.7 million were 15 characters or longer. Eight-character passwords are still the most commonly compromised (the company thinks that’s because Active Directory, an older but still active Microsoft product, defaults to eight-character passwords). The Limits of the Findings Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, it’s worth noting that these findings do have some significant l...