A password is a form of authentication to enter an application or device or access information. We use them daily to access our computers or to withdraw money from the ATM, among many other daily gestures.
They usually have a length of between 6 and 10 characters that combines both letters (upper and lower case) and numbers and symbols, trying to make them robust and easy to remember.
However, there is a much safer formula to improve the security of an account: Passphrases. This technique allows you to write up to 64 characters (in some cases even more) as a password, putting a phrase that you like, a part of a song, a mathematical formula or a saying, for example.
Therefore, Kingston indicates the advantages of this type of password and why they are more beneficial for saving data:
They are easier to remember: Although they are longer, they are generally less complex than a key with random characters of letters, numbers and symbols since we can put a phrase, a joke, the lyrics of a song or any other conjunction of letters that we remember.
They are more challenging for attackers to guess: The extension is the biggest drawback cybercriminals have when dealing with this type of security. While a brute-force attack on a powerful computer can take seconds to guess a 12-character password, a 64-character password is exponentially much more complicated, even if it only contains letters.
Operating system compatibility: The world’s most used and popular operating systems, such as Windows, Mac or Linux, already offer their users the ability to set passwords of up to 127 characters.
For example, we can put a password phrase to log in to our computer with this type of password, which can be really useful for computers needing maximum protection.
Passphrases are a significant improvement over traditional passwords, as they are easier to remember and more complicated to guess, thanks to their length.