{"id":1640,"date":"2021-10-08T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cbits.co.uk\/ourblog\/?p=1640"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:29:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T14:29:15","slug":"history-andpassword-generator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cbits.co.uk\/ourblog\/index.php\/cbrelated\/history-andpassword-generator\/","title":{"rendered":"Passwords How we got here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Password Generator<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

History of passwords<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A long time ago, we were encouraged to make passwords something we could easily remember, like a pet\u2019s name (let\u2019s say \u201ccosmo<\/em>\u201c), and to use the same password everywhere, for banking, email and computer access. Unfortunately, this made passwords easy for humans to guess \u2013 how many times have you filled in a Facebook quiz that asks about your pet name or your school?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were then told we needed to add a number or special characters to make it more \u201ccomplicated\u201d. Often, we would add this to the end of the password. To make things easier, we\u2019d often just add a 1 or our birth year on to the end. We now have \u201cCosmo1!<\/em>\u201c. Then we\u2019d add more and more until the password became almost unrecognisable \u2013 \u201cc0#mO2!<\/em>\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graphic depiction of how passwords have developed <\/h2>\n\n\n
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Over time, we perfected the art of creating passwords that were hard for humans to remember, and easy for computers to guess. To add to this, we forced people to change their passwords regularly, sometimes as often as monthly, further reducing any chance you\u2019d remember it. Post-it notes were all too common \u2013 often found stuck to the computer that you needed the password for \u2013 almost as good as no password at all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New guidance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Guidance has once again changed, and for the better. We now encourage people to create passwords that are easier for humans to remember, but difficult for computers to guess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By having a long but less complicated password, we can increase the time taken to crack passwords by brute force (trying every password possible) exponentially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combining several random<\/strong> English words, separated by a dash, space or other punctuation, with capitalisation and a random special character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E.g. public!PERHAPS!once!SCENE!743<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can generate passwords just like this by using our password generator above<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Passwords should be:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n