(c|net) When you create a password for yet another new account, you’ll probably encounter familiar rules designed to make it harder for hackers to get in: Use capitals letters, numbers and special characters. However, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University say these requirements don’t make your password stronger.
Lorrie Cranor, director of the CyLab Usable Security and Privacy Laboratory at CMU, says her team has a better way, a meter that websites can use to prompt you to create more-secure passwords. After a user has created a password of at least 10 characters, the meter will start giving suggestions, such as breaking up common words with slashes or random letters, to make your password stronger.