Using passphrases for better security

Online security plays an important role in our everyday lives. Much of our personal information is available online, so to keep it safe from being stolen and used for bad intent it’s crucial to apply proven measures.

Unfortunately, when managing sensitive personal information online, a lot of people continue making mistakes. These mistakes are often made with passwords. People continue using weak passwords that are easy to hack and reuse the same password for multiple accounts. Moreover, using personal information and the number sequence 123456 remains a common practice.

Fortunately, there’s a simple way to improve protection online – use a passphrase. They are known to be more secure than regular passwords and while they can contain unique information, only known by a particular person, they don’t include personal information and are longer than traditional passwords. These features make passphrases more secure.

What is a passphrase?

A passphrase typically is a sentence-like phrase that is used as an alternative to a password. It’s favored over traditional passwords because it’s easier to remember and it’s more difficult to crack. Since people tend to stick with weak passwords that commonly include easy-to-guess words, such as P@ssw0rd or the name of their favorite sports team, it reduces the security of their accounts. Therefore, opting for more secure options to protect your accounts, such as using passphrases, is highly recommended.

Why choose a passphrase over a traditional password?

A passphrase is a step forward toward increased cybersecurity. While a simple password includes between 9 to 11 characters on average, a passphrase is around 32 characters long. This means that using a passphrase significantly increases the efforts necessary to crack it.

Think about a password as a lock for your house. Would you buy the cheapest, wobbly, and easy-to-break one? Most likely not. However, often people choose common and weak passwords for their accounts.

There are some misconceptions that passphrases are less secure than passwords. But a passphrase gives more flexibility in its creation process. Usually it includes spaces, special characters, and it doesn’t have to be grammatically correct. All these details make it even more difficult to guess and, therefore, more secure than your traditional passwords.

How to create a strong passphrase

When creating a strong passphrase, similar rules apply to the ones recommended for strong password creation. Use of personal information should be avoided as it’s easy for cybercriminals to retrieve such information. Additionally, it’s recommended to use a mix of upper and lower case letters, and special characters.

Much like passwords, passphrases shouldn’t be reused as this practice weakens their security. Another important aspect in creating strong password phrases is avoiding a theme or using words that correlate, as this too makes it easier for cybercriminals to guess it. It's a good practice to use random words, or even words that aren’t real, nonsensical, or misspelled.

Examples of effective passphrases

A strong passphrase is commonly made of at least 4 words and is at least 15 characters long. Here are some examples of secure passphrases:

• Carrots 1Amp pl@te sCreen! is a strong example of a passphrase because it’s 26 characters long, the words don’t correlate, it includes special symbols, spaces, upper and lower case letters. Also, there is no identifiable personal information used in this passphrase.
• No1-kan-bersA-signa7ure-reCipe$ is a strong passphrase because it’s 31 characters long, includes misspelled and nonsensical words, numbers and special characters. Also, instead of space it uses dashes as separators. All of these details make it more difficult to guess.

Passphrase vs password: key differences

Despite the fact that passwords and passphrases serve the same purpose, they have some key differences. The most noticeable difference between passwords and passphrases is their length. It’s one of the main factors that makes passphrases more secure. Since they are much longer and can be created using information unique to the individual, it makes it very difficult to crack.

Other key differences that separate passphrases and passwords are their memorability and structure. Passphrases are easier to remember. Structure wise, passwords are made of combinations of characters, letters, and numbers while passphrases are combinations of words that have a personal meaning to an individual.

All in all, it’s advisable to use passphrases to ensure higher security of your personal accounts. Unfortunately, some websites don’t allow using long passphrases. That’s where creating a password out of a passphrase comes in handy.

To create such a password you can simply use the first letters of the phrase and customize the password adding numbers to substitute letters, adding symbols and using upper and lower case letters. And, most importantly, never use passphrase examples that you find online as your own passwords.

Implementing passphrases in your security practices

When using passphrases, remember that you need to practice regular safety routines. For example, update your passphrases regularly to minimize the risk of cybercriminals and malicious programs breaking into your accounts.

Another way to incorporate passphrases into your everyday life is with the help of password managers. They can assist you in creating a unique passphrase for each of your accounts and securely store your passphrases in an encrypted vault. This way you won’t have to worry about forgetting any of your passwords.

Final thoughts on passphrases and security

Taking care of your online security is always a good and encouraged practice. While traditional passwords can do a good job protecting your accounts, you might want to consider more secure alternatives such as passphrases. Due to their unique characteristics, they aren’t only more secure and difficult to crack, but also easier to remember than traditional passwords.