Cybersecurity

 

A computer can guess more than 100 billion passwords per second — still think yours is secure?

Last year, a record was set for a computer trying to generate every conceivable password. It achieved a rate faster than 100,000,000,000 guesses per second.

By leveraging this computing power, cybercriminals can hack into systems by bombarding them with as many password combinations as possible, in a process called brute force attacks.

And with cloud-based technology, guessing an eight-character password can be achieved in as little as 12 minutes and cost as little as US$25.

Also, because passwords are almost always used to give access to sensitive data or important systems, this motivates cybercriminals to actively seek them out. It also drives a lucrative online market selling passwords, some of which come with email addresses and/or usernames.