Too many people use passwords that can be easily guessed within a few hours. And also due to hacking of third-party sites, they often gain access to accounts on social networks. This is because some people use the same password everywhere..
Do not use names, birthdays, street addresses or mother's maiden name - hackers can easily find the right combination using a brute force attack (enumerating many options). To prevent this, you should use special password generators. Once you know how they work, you can choose the one that works best for you.
LastPass
LastPass Password Generator Tool is an online generator from the developer of the popular LastPass service. There is a desktop and web version, which is used by over 17 million users..
You can change the generation parameters and create complex passwords of up to 50 characters, consisting of uppercase, lowercase letters and randomly selected characters. There is an interesting option to create “easy to pronounce” and “easy to write” variations.
If you register for the service and install the program on your computer, you can automatically generate such passwords on any website. At the same time, you will not need to memorize them - they will be saved in the service database and automatically filled in when authorizing on sites..
But don't worry - all data is encrypted and can only be decrypted on your computer or smartphone. All information is kept secret, even from LastPass. Uses AES-256 bit encryption with PBKDF2 SHA-256 and salted hashes. Your key used to decrypt data is never sent to the LastPass servers.
LastPass login generator
A strong password is good, but using a random login on all sites can be an even bigger step towards security. Many users use the same login from Gmail accounts to banking sites. Therefore, knowing the login on one site, it will be easier for a hacker to figure you out on another.
Using a random login is like using two passwords for an account. A hacker simply will not be able to find out that on one site a user with the nickname IoURoTIo is the same person as AmBoSiON on another.
LastPass allows you to generate not only passwords, but also logins. To do this, go to the special Username Generator page .
Dashlane Password Generator Tool
Dashlane is a cross-platform service that launched in 2012. It is currently available on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. This wide range of supported platforms has earned it over a million users worldwide and 60,000 five-star reviews.
By default, the generation uses 12 characters, which includes all letters, numbers, and symbols. If you wish, you can independently set the length of the generated password and choose among four sets of characters, numbers, uppercase / lowercase letters.
If you install the program on your computer, then you will be prompted to import all passwords stored in the browser, as well as in LastPass, RoboForm and other programs. After that, every time you need to log in or register on any site, Dashlane will automatically substitute your username and password or create a new one.
Dashlane also has a set of additional features, such as a built-in VPN for anonymous surfing, support for two-factor authentication (2FA) and AES-256 encryption. You can also set up fingerprint authentication on Android and iOS, or even FaceID on the iPhone X.
The service can be used for free only on one device, without the possibility of synchronization with other computers. This is a serious limitation. In comparison, free LastPass does not limit the number of devices to sync.
Perfect passwords
Steve Gibson is an internationally renowned computer security programmer and expert. Its online password generator tool has been in operation for over a decade.
In Perfect Passwords used powerful generation algorithm by which the obtained combination with a high value of the information entropy. For example:
- 2EED43F3BBD5897D76F12D0212817AD702D21D456899C4E6B4B77F707F275D09
- AY / F * [rTUTU> E9c ^ F_vcfJ \. @ + GDB4%) zNVp7w74E; 103] {M3SBRDWH "T} KABo
- glY2hNMuVt9MUoSDdIIrtJ88bxxlTlvOwAKj62T9SCNljG3ULF31YY7Z3Au1eHR
The service web page generates a new password with each update. It has three options: 64-bit hexadecimal (numbers from 0 to 9 are used, plus Latin letters from A to F); 63-bit ASCII (almost all possible characters); 63-bit alphanumeric (Latin letters from A to Z, plus numbers from 0 to 9).
Of the three, ASCII is the most reliable. It is almost impossible to pick up this randomly selected combination of characters, especially since its length is as much as 63 characters.
Secure Password Generator
Secure Password Generator has a lot of settings. For example, you can not only include characters, numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters in a combination, but also exclude so-called similar characters such as oO0 or [{(.
Secure Password Generator has the option of generating directly by the computing power of your computer, and not the server on which the service is located, which excludes data transmission over the network. For obvious reasons, we highly recommend using it!
And also implemented the function of creating passwords that are easy to remember, but difficult to crack. The results of using this option are sometimes a bit comical. However, it really helps to create very complex, but at the same time, relatively easy to memorize combinations. For example: 9LAPTOPjack?] / 5usa> FRUIT_parkQUEENbestbuy% EGG.
A little about entropy
The password has two main characteristics - length and entropy.
The length depends on how long it will take to crack it. The longer the combination, the more difficult it is to crack, because there are a few extra bits to match. Shorter ones are easier, since you have to select values with fewer characters. The more characters the better!
The second characteristic is unpredictability, also known as information entropy. Entropy describes the level of randomness in the generation process. For example, an eight-digit combination like 01234567 is much weaker than another eight-digit combination - 58z @ L #? T. The second one is much more difficult to crack, and its entropy (complexity) is higher.
If you plan to use online generators, choose only services with a good reputation. The most trusted online options are LastPass and Dashlane, both of which are trustworthy and reasonably well protected from cyber threats.