AI might crack your password in less than a minute
Here is what you can do to stay safe
An Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled tool can crack over 50% of the commonly used passwords in less than a minute, according to the latest study.
The study utilized an AI password cracker called PassGAN to test a list of 15,680,000 passwords, revealing that almost 51 percent of the common passwords can be breached in less than a minute while 65 percent of passwords could be cracked in under an hour. Moreover, the study also revealed that 81 percent of passwords could be breached within a month.
While it is true that AI can guess your password in less than a minute, it should be highlighted that this is only achievable if you use short, general, and simple to guess passwords. such as your phone number, birth date, etc. On the other hand, it will take longer to figure out passwords that are 18 characters long and contain both characters and symbols.
According to the study, it was further stated that passwords with 18 or more characters are typically resistant to AI password cracking. It took at least ten months to crack passwords of this length that contained only numbers. The most difficult to crack passwords were those with a mix of symbols, digits, and upper- and lower-case characters, which might take up to 6 quintillion years.
How can you protect your password?
Avoid using obvious and general passwords to keep yourself safe, especially ones with merely numbers.
A variety of characters, symbols, numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, and at least 15 characters in length are ideal requirements for passwords.
You can use a password manager to take the appropriate action if you have any worries about remembering these types of passwords.
According to the study, a password should contain at least two characters (in upper- and lowercase), numbers, and symbols.
Also, it is advisable to make a habit of changing passwords every three to six months. Last but not least, using the same password across all of your accounts is a risky choice.
Stay Informed and Stay Safe!
