Password Strength Checker

How Password Cracking Works

Modern password cracking uses specialized hardware (GPUs, ASICs) to try billions of combinations per second. Here's how different attacks work and why password strength matters:

Brute Force Attacks

A brute force attack tries every possible combination of characters. A password using only lowercase letters has 26 possibilities per character. Add uppercase (52), numbers (62), and symbols (~95), and each additional character exponentially increases the time needed. An 8-character lowercase password has about 209 billion combinations — crackable in seconds. A 16-character mixed password has over 10^31 combinations — effectively uncrackable.

Dictionary Attacks

Instead of brute force, attackers try common words, phrases, and known passwords from data breaches. If your password is "sunshine123" or "password1!", it doesn't matter that it has mixed characters — it's in every attacker's dictionary. That's why this checker flags common passwords.

What Makes a Strong Password?

• Length is king: Every character you add multiplies the difficulty exponentially. 16+ characters is ideal.
• Mix character types: Use uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols to maximize the search space.
• Avoid patterns: Sequential characters (abc, 123), keyboard patterns (qwerty), and repeated characters are easily guessed.
• Never reuse passwords: Use a unique password for every account. A password manager handles this for you.
• Enable 2FA: Even the best password can be phished. Two-factor authentication adds a second layer that requires physical access.

Why Use a Password Manager?

A password manager generates, stores, and auto-fills unique strong passwords for every account. You only need to remember one master password. Popular options include Bitwarden (free, open-source), 1Password, and KeePass (offline). Combined with temporary email from fake.legal for non-essential signups, you minimize both your password risk and your email exposure.