3 ms·

The passwords I create myself are secure enough. But holy hell, entering them on devices with nerfed keyboards (phones, TVs, etc.) is a royal pain in the ass.

The passwords I create myself are secure enough. But holy hell, entering them on devices with nerfed keyboards (phones, TVs, etc.) is a royal pain in the ass. So: do I make my passwords less secure and easier to enter on a nerfed keyboard? Avoiding this pain has been the strongest motivation for me to explore password managers.

imaginenore 11y ago
If your password is even 10 characters (alphanum, upper and lowercase = 62 characters), it's already safe enough for the most sites that properly hash your passwords and don't allow many attempts. Passwords for more sensitive sites, like banking, should be longer of course, 20 characters gives you 119 bits, 30 characters gives you 178 bits.
- aikah 11y ago
  lol my bank only accepts 4 digit numbers passwords.
  - my_username_is_ 11y ago
    My credit union used to have a similar, although not as bad, password policy. I believe password length had to be between 8 and 10 alphanumeric characters, and then there were other crazy rules that reduced the entropy of passwords further. I think there had to be at least 3 numbers in the password and it couldn't start with a number. It took them years before they finally listened to reason and allowed you to have a stronger password
  - a3n 11y ago
    My (new) bank USAA has some password policy which I forget, but I vaguely remember the green bar growing longer as I typed in my proposed password. To log in to the site I have to supply my login/password, then on the next page my 4 digit pin, then on the next page the answer to one of three rotating security questions. On the phone app, after the phone was authenticated the first time, I only have to enter my 4 digit pin to access my account. IIRC, that policy is at my option. I'm not sure if that's all a good thing, or theater, but that's what they have.
vbezhenar 11y ago
Use a-z and compensate with 1-2 more characters. 12 character password is practically unbreakable. Make it 15 and sleep well. Unless you're dealing with stupid site that knows better how your password should look like. Then you're out of luck.
- a3n 11y ago
  Or preferably, the stupid site is out of luck and loses a user.
- WalterGR 11y ago
  Unless you're dealing with stupid site that knows better how your password should look like. Then you're out of luck. Yup. And that's quite common in my experience.

imaginenore 11y ago

If your password is even 10 characters (alphanum, upper and lowercase = 62 characters), it's already safe enough for the most sites that properly hash your passwords and don't allow many attempts. Passwords for more sensitive sites, like banking, should be longer of course, 20 characters gives you 119 bits, 30 characters gives you 178 bits.

aikah 11y ago
lol my bank only accepts 4 digit numbers passwords.
- my_username_is_ 11y ago
  My credit union used to have a similar, although not as bad, password policy. I believe password length had to be between 8 and 10 alphanumeric characters, and then there were other crazy rules that reduced the entropy of passwords further. I think there had to be at least 3 numbers in the password and it couldn't start with a number. It took them years before they finally listened to reason and allowed you to have a stronger password
- a3n 11y ago
  My (new) bank USAA has some password policy which I forget, but I vaguely remember the green bar growing longer as I typed in my proposed password. To log in to the site I have to supply my login/password, then on the next page my 4 digit pin, then on the next page the answer to one of three rotating security questions. On the phone app, after the phone was authenticated the first time, I only have to enter my 4 digit pin to access my account. IIRC, that policy is at my option. I'm not sure if that's all a good thing, or theater, but that's what they have.

vbezhenar 11y ago

Use a-z and compensate with 1-2 more characters. 12 character password is practically unbreakable. Make it 15 and sleep well. Unless you're dealing with stupid site that knows better how your password should look like. Then you're out of luck.

a3n 11y ago
Or preferably, the stupid site is out of luck and loses a user.
WalterGR 11y ago
Unless you're dealing with stupid site that knows better how your password should look like. Then you're out of luck. Yup. And that's quite common in my experience.