What makes a strong password?

• A. Long, unique, includes a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols, and is not reused across sites
• B. Short and simple
• C. All digits only
• D. Reuse across sites

Answer: (A)

A strong password combines length, uniqueness for each site, and a mix of character types, and it isn’t reused across sites. The longer a password is, the more possible combinations exist, which makes brute-force attempts far slower. Using a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols expands the number of possible sequences even more, making simple guessing much harder. Not reusing the same password across sites is crucial because if one site is breached, attackers shouldn’t be able to use the same credentials to access other accounts. Short and simple passwords are easy to guess, a password made of digits only is quickly brute-forced, and reusing passwords across sites creates a cascade of risk if any one site is compromised. Consider using a password manager to generate and store long, unique passwords for each site.