GMX
World Password Day for better passwords
German internet users are often too careless when it comes to the security of their own online accounts. According to a recent survey, the majority (63%) use the same password for several (57%) or even all (5%) logins on the Internet.
In most cases, passwords are simply too short, although they can create security primarily through length: they should be at least 8, preferably 12 or more characters. This is becoming increasingly important in view of the growing number of attacks on Internet accounts worldwide, says Arne Allisat, Head of Security at email providers GMX and WEB.DE.
"The length is now the decisive feature for a good password. Special characters or numbers also increase security, but passwords that are too short can be guessed more and more quickly by attackers thanks to more powerful hardware and software. A good trick is to use whole sentences as passwords. Or you can use strings of at least three words that have nothing to do with each other. You can then separate them with spaces or hyphens, for example 'lock-gate-precious-metal-head-salad'. That's nice and long, very safe and easy to remember."
A good half of Germans (51%), on the other hand, are not so particular about password length. One in six (14%) state that the most frequently used passwords are a maximum of 8 or fewer characters long. 37% use a maximum of ten characters, according to a survey by GMX and WEB.DE. A quarter of respondents (24%) use up to 12 characters. 16 percent use up to 15 characters and only 10 percent go beyond this length.
To mark World Password Day on May 2, GMX is helping its users to choose a secure and sufficiently long password with its password check. The system not only checks the desired password for length or the use of special characters. In addition, an automated assessment is made of how easily a password can be guessed by online criminals, as well as a comparison with frequently used passwords.
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