If you thought 123456 was a strong unhackable password, think again. Microsoft is going to stop users from using simple passwords. Hotmail, Microsoft’s free e-mail service is going to force users to use more comprehensive and complicated passwords. It’s just not simple sequence of alphabets and numbers, a lot of users tend to use short phrases and statements as passwords such as ‘ilovedogs’ or ‘ilovecats’. Microsoft feels that easy passwords are more vulnerable to brute force password hacks, where a program or individual is likely to use a list of commonly used passwords to gain access to your account. Once that happens, it’s very simple to change the password of that account. This new rule will be enforced soon and you’re likely to be asked by Microsoft to change your password if it’s deemed too simple.
Guidelines to ensure your password is strong enough
Looking at the large number of recent hacking incidents, there’s no telling who could be the next target. Microsoft is probably playing it safe by forcing users to change the way they set passwords. Microsoft even has an online page dedicated to passwords. There’s a list of guidelines on what a good password should contain and what are considered bad passwords. If you’re one of those who uses simple passwords, do give that page a read.
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