What is a strong password?
A strong password is a password that is difficult for a program to guess or difficult to crack.
Long, complex passwords or passphrases that combine groups of words are very strong. Short, general and easy to remember passwords are weak, because they are easy to guess or vulnerable to attacks.
With sufficient complexity, you can make your passwords uncrackable.
How do I best create a strong password?
- Think of a passphrase instead of a password. Choose a secret sentence that only you know.
This is often easier to remember than a complex password. - The more characters, the better. A minimum of 12 is recommended, but on Doccle you can choose up to 64 characters.
- Use lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, special characters and spaces. In short, use variation in your password.
- Never use obvious words or series, such as the name of your partner or children, series such as 12345 or qwerty, welcome01.
- Don't come up with a password that is similar to one of your other or old passwords. This is easy to guess and therefore not strong enough. Instead, come up with something completely different.
- Use a password manager. This way, you only have to remember 1 (strong) password or passphrase and all your other passwords are stored securely.
- Choose words that do not appear in password blacklists (such as "password" or "admin").
- Make sure that the password or passphrase does not contain any personal information (for example, your child's date of birth or your partner's name).
- Do not use a company name or an abbreviation in your password.
- Do not use passwords that correspond to easily guessable formats such as calendar dates, license plates or telephone numbers.
Additional tips
- Make your Doccle account even more secure with itsme and 2FA.
- Visit Safeonweb. This organization ensures that all Belgian citizens are informed and advised quickly and correctly about cybersecurity, major current digital threats and online security. They also offer advice on password management.
- Choose a password manager that suits your device, operating system, use and needs.