Guides
Strong passwords: what actually makes them secure?
Most account break-ins are not the work of genius hackers — they happen because passwords are short or reused. Here is what really makes a password strong.
Length comes first
Every extra character multiplies the number of guesses an attacker must try. A random 16-character password mixing letters, numbers and symbols is far stronger than an 8-character one, however clever it looks. That is why the Password Generator shows an estimate of strength in bits: the higher the number, the harder it is to guess.
Real randomness
Passwords built from names, dates or keyboard patterns are easy to guess because attackers try those first. TOOLORA’s generator uses your browser’s cryptographically secure random generator, and passwords never leave your device.
Never reuse passwords
When a website leaks its users’ passwords, attackers immediately try them on email and banking accounts. Use a different password for every account.
How do you remember them all?
- Use a reputable password manager that stores passwords encrypted and fills them in for you.
- Keep one long master password that you memorize well.
- Turn on two-step verification for important accounts.
For developers
Never store passwords in plain text or with fast hashes such as MD5. Use password-hashing algorithms like Argon2id. You can explore how hash functions behave with the Hash Generator.