all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited est une solution tout-en-un respectueuse de la vie privée"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Aucune publicité, le respect de la vie privée comme règle absolue"],"People before profits":["Les individus passent avant les profits"],"Security through transparency":["Notre engagement de transparence"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["Les meilleures offres ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } de Proton Mail"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":[" La seule messagerie au monde soutenue par la communauté"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } heure","${ hours } heures"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Temps restant : ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft }, ${ secondsLeft }"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minute","${ minutes } minutes"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } seconde","${ seconds } secondes"],"Limited time offer":["Offre à durée limitée"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Créez plusieurs adresses"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Alias « hide-my-email »"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Désabonnez-vous rapidement des newsletters"],"Use your own domain name":["Utilisez votre propre nom de domaine"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Ils en parlent"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Choisissez une messagerie électronique chiffrée qui protège votre vie privée"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Offre Proton Mail Black Friday - Jusqu'à 40 % de réduction"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Obtenez jusqu'à 40 % de réduction sur les abonnements Proton Mail à l'occasion du Black Friday. Profitez d'offres exceptionnelles sur nos abonnements de messagerie électronique sécurisée et chiffrée de bout en bout."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Offre Black Friday Proton Mail | Jusqu'à 40 % de réduction"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["* Facturé ${ TOTAL_SUM } pour la première année"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*Facturé ${ TOTAL_SUM } pour les 2 premières années"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["Garantie satisfait ou remboursé pendant 30 jours"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["Facturé ${ TOTAL_SUM } pour les 2 premières années"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["Facturé ${ TOTAL_SUM } pour la première année"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["Vous économisez ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["-${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["J'adore mon ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Ma messagerie électronique préférée"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Merci Proton de nous garder en sécurité dans l'univers complexe d'internet."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Vous avez ce pour quoi vous payez. Avec les Big Tech, si vous ne payez rien, vous êtes utilisé. J'ai arrêté d'utiliser Gmail et je suis passée @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Jours"],"Hours":["Heures"],"Min":["Min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["Et aussi"],"Safe from trackers":["À l'abri des traqueurs"],"Stay organized":["Restez organisé(e)"],"Black Friday email deals":["Offres Black Friday pour la messagerie électronique"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["Ce qu'en disent nos utilisateurs"],"Make your inbox yours":["Appropriez-vous totalement votre boîte de réception"],"Our story":["Notre histoire"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Transférez vos données depuis Google en un clic"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Accédez aux contenus bloqués et naviguez en toute confidentialité. Comprend plus de ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS } serveurs dans plus de ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } pays, la possibilité de connecter jusqu'à 10 appareils, l'accès aux services de streaming dans le monde entier, un bloqueur de logiciels malveillants et de publicités et bien plus encore."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Partagez facilement votre calendrier avec votre famille, vos amis ou collègues et consultez des calendriers externes."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Comprend la prise en charge de 1 domaine de messagerie personnalisé, de 10 adresses e-mail, de 10 alias « hide-my-email », du partage de calendriers et bien d'autres fonctionnalités."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Comprend la prise en charge de 3 domaines de messagerie personnalisés, de 15 adresses e-mail, d'un nombre illimité d'alias « hide-my-email », du partage de calendriers et bien d'autres fonctionnalités."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Jusqu'à 25 calendriers, des applications mobiles, la sécurité avec le chiffrement de bout en bout, l'importation de calendrier en un clic depuis Google..."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Nous rencontrons actuellement des problèmes avec le service Proton VPN."]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["En savoir plus"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["Nous rencontrons actuellement des problèmes avec le service ${ issues[0] }."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["Nous rencontrons actuellement des problèmes avec un ou plusieurs services."]},"steps":{"Step":["Étape"]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Suggestions"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Sous-catégorie","Sous-catégories"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } minute","${ readingTime } minutes"],"Category":["Catégorie","Catégories"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["Vous ne trouvez pas ce que vous cherchez ?"],"General contact":["Contact - Général"],"Get help":["Obtenir de l'aide"],"Legal contact":["Contact - Juridique"],"Media contact":["Contact - Média"],"Partnerships contact":["Contact - Partenariats"],"Reading":["Lecture"]},"Support Form Platform option":{"VPN for Android TV":["VPN pour Android TV"],"VPN for Apple TV":["VPN pour Apple TV"],"VPN for Chromebook":["VPN pour Chromebook"]},"Support troubleshooting":{"App version":["Version de l'application"],"Browser":["Navigateur"],"Check if this helps":["Vérifiez si cela vous aide."],"Choose a product":["Choisir un produit"],"Did this solve your issue?":["Cela a-t-il résolu votre problème ?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away":["Quelques clics suffisent pour obtenir une assistance plus rapide"],"How can we help?":["Comment pouvons-nous vous aider ?"],"No, contact support":["Non, contacter le support"],"Please fill out one field after another":["Veuillez remplir les champs l'un après l'autre"],"Please make your selections":["Veuillez faire vos sélections"],"Proton account":["Compte Proton"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Nous vous remercions pour votre commentaire."],"What can we help with?":["En quoi pouvons-nous vous aider ?"],"Yes":["Oui"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Recherche"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Rechercher"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Je recherche des informations sur..."]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Pour que le problème soit résolu plus rapidement, vous pouvez le signaler à partir de l'application Bridge : Aide > Signaler un bug."],"Information":["Informations"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Sécurité du compte"],"Contacts":["Contacts"],"Custom email domain":["Domaine de messagerie personnalisé"],"Email delivery and Spam":["Distribution des messages et indésirables/spam"],"Encryption":["Chiffrement"],"Login and password":["Identifiant et mot de passe"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Fusion des alias et des comptes"],"Migrate to Proton":["Migration vers Proton"],"Notifications":["Notifications"],"Other":["Autre"],"Plans and billing":["Abonnements et facturation"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Sign up":["Inscription"],"Storage":["Espace de stockage"],"Users, addresses, and identities":["Utilisateurs, adresses et identités"]},"SupportForm:optionIntro":{"Select a topic":["Choisissez un sujet"]},"Testimonial":{"Awards":["Récompenses"],"Customers":["Clients"],"Featured":["Ils en parlent"],"Go to testimonial source":["Accéder aux commentaires"],"Open source of award":["Voir l'information originale concernant ce prix"],"Open source of quote":["Voir l'information originale concernant cette citation"],"Reviews":["Avis"],"Videos":["Vidéos"],"Watch on TikTok":["Regarder sur TikTok"],"Watch on YouTube":["Regarder sur YouTube"]},"TestimonialCategory":{"Awards":["Récompenses"],"Customers":["Clients"],"Featured":["Ils en parlent"],"Media":["Média"],"Reviews":["Avis"],"Videos":["Des vidéos"]},"Text":{"If you need help, check out our ${ supportLink }.":["Si vous avez besoin d'aide, consultez notre ${ supportLink }."],"The page you’re looking for might have been removed, or it could be an\nold link.":["La page recherchée a peut-être été retirée ou le lien utilisé n'est plus valide."],"Your question may already have an answer in our knowledge base:":["La réponse à votre question se trouve peut-être déjà dans notre base de connaissances :"]},"Title":{"On this page":["Sur cette page"],"Page not found":["Page introuvable"],"Related articles":["Articles similaires"],"Share ${ thisPage }":["Partagez ${ thisPage }"],"Switch to Proton Pass - Contact us":["Passez à Proton Pass - Contactez-nous"],"Thank you!":["Merci !"],"this page":["cette page"]},"tooltip_vpn":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Accédez aux contenus bloqués et naviguez en toute confidentialité. Comprend plus de ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS } serveurs dans plus de ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } pays, la vitesse VPN la plus élevée, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } connexions VPN, l'accès aux services de streaming dans le monde entier, un bloqueur de logiciels malveillants et de publicités et bien plus encore."]},"vpn_servers":{"Get Proton VPN Plus":["Je choisis Proton VPN Plus"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Action":{"Get Proton Wallet":["Obtenir Proton Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Homepage hero product link title":{"Wallet":["Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Homepage product navigation bar":{"Wallet":["Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:menu item":{"Bitcoin guide":["Guide de Bitcoin"],"Proton Wallet news":["Actualités Proton Wallet"],"Proton Wallet support":["Support Proton Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Pricing":{"Includes everything in Proton Unlimited and":["Comprend tout ce qui est inclus dans Proton Unlimited et"],"Limited availability":["Disponibilité limitée"],"The easiest way to securely own, send, and receive Bitcoin":["Le moyen le plus simple et sécurisé pour détenir et échanger des bitcoins"]},"wallet_signup_2024:ProductRange":{"Discover Proton Wallet":["Découvrez Proton Wallet"],"Store and transact Bitcoin privately with an encrypted self-custody wallet.":["Conservez et échangez des bitcoins en toute sécurité grâce à notre portefeuille chiffré en auto-gestion."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet bitcoin":{"Learn about Bitcoin, the Internet's value network.":["Découvrez le monde du Bitcoin, le réseau de valeur sur Internet."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet overview":{"Ensure you're always in control of your Bitcoin.":["Restez maître de vos bitcoins en toutes circonstances."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet security":{"The encrypted, open-source wallet that puts you in control.":["Contrôlez vos bitcoins de A à Z avec notre portefeuille chiffré open source."]}}},"base":"blog","cdn":{"enabledForAssets":true,"enabledForImages":true,"url":"https://pmecdn.protonweb.com/"},"unleashApi":"https://account.proton.me/api"};
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For decades, information security experts have tried to get
people to create stronger passwords by requiring a minimum length (usually
eight characters), plus at least one capital letter, one number, and one
special character (like @, #, or !). This strategy is now widely considered to
be a failure. Many people simply created an obvious variation of their previous
password. “Letmein1!” is as easy for a computer to crack as “letmein”, even
though it’s longer and more complex.
This goes to show that there are multiple elements that
factor into how strong your password is. Length is one of them. In this
article, we’ll explain some concepts you should consider when creating a
password, as well as some guidelines for how long your password should be.
Ways to crack a password
First, you should understand something about how hackers
steal passwords. Bad guys typically begin trying to crack a password by using a
dictionary attack. A dictionary attack works by drawing on a massive database
of dictionary words, real passwords exposed in previous data breaches, names,
as well as common combinations (such as last name + first name + date) and
substitutions (like “@” instead of “a”). To get an idea of what kind of data
hackers can glean from a password leak, check out this report(nouvelle fenêtre).
If a dictionary attack fails, the hacker will have to use a
brute force attack. This type of attack is much slower because it means the
computer will go through every possible combination of characters, one by one. Some
computers(nouvelle fenêtre) can guess hundreds of billions of passwords per second.
Keep in mind, hackers generally are not trying to guess your password at the login page of your online account. Instead, they will usually attempt dictionary or brute force attacks on a database of hashed passwords(nouvelle fenêtre) stolen from a company’s servers. There are various ways companies can hash passwords to bog down the process for hackers, which can help keep your plaintext password secure. But it’s better to create a strong password yourself rather than place all your trust in the cybersecurity practices of a website(nouvelle fenêtre).
How to prevent brute force attack
There are two ways to make it more difficult for someone to
brute force your password: make your password longer (by using more characters),
and make it more complex (by using a greater variety of character types, like
numbers and capital letters). Note, however, that length is much more effective
than complexity at preventing a brute force attack.
Every additional character in a password increases the
length of time it would take a supercomputer to guess your password by an order
of magnitude, even if you only use lower-case letters. Adding complexity also
helps because it will broaden the set of characters the computer has to check,
but not by nearly as much.
There are online calculators(nouvelle fenêtre) that claim to tell you how long it would take a computer to crack your password. These are not precise because of all the variables involved, such as computing power and the hash used. But they can serve to illustrate a key point about password length: a six-character random-generated password using a mix of character types would take seconds to crack, whereas a 10-character password with only lower-case letters could take several years.
Why a long password isn’t always better
Brute force attacks are not very efficient and can be easily
thwarted by merely creating a longer password. That’s why dictionary attacks
are a more efficient way to crack passwords. Dictionary attacks take advantage
of human weaknesses, like predictability and poor memory. The need to remember passwords
leads users to choose simple passwords, which are also easy to guess.
With dictionary attacks, therefore, length can be a
misleading measure of password strength. For example, “F3rnand3zJ@nu@ry1983”
looks like it could be a very strong password because it contains lots of
numbers, capital letters, and special characters. But this password would
probably be cracked in a dictionary attack: It’s just a last name, a month, and
a year. The algorithm could easily look for predictable character substitutions
and capitals.
How long should your password be?
The length of your password primarily depends on whether
you’re using a password with random characters or one with a series of words.
If you want to create a strong password using a series of words (a “passphrase”), most info security firms recommend using at least four words that aren’t very common. As more people switch to passphrases, however, hackers will get better at cracking them.
If you’re using a password composed of random characters,
about 15 should put it out of reach of modern computing capabilities. However,
we don’t recommend using random-character passwords unless you’re using them
with a password manager, which will help you generate and store them securely.
That way you don’t have to remember them or write them down, and they will be
unique.
To help with this, we’ve developed Proton Pass, our very own password manager. Not only only will it generate, store, and autofill passwords as you go, but also was created with your privacy in mind.
Unlike the password manager built into most browsers (Chrome password manager being the prime example), Proton Pass uses end-to-end encryption to keep your data safe; so safe, in fact, that even we can’;’t read it.
Adding to that, Proton Pass is easy to use with a handy browser extension that will offer to save new password and fill in any fields it comes across. Also, it can even remember credit card details and keep secure notes for you.
Proton is a company that was founded by scientists who met at CERN for the express purpose of making the internet a safer and more private place. If that sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, create a free Proton Pass account today and join us.
Thousands of businesses of all sizes were impacted by cybercrime in 2024. Here
are the top cybersecurity threats we expect companies to face in 2025—and how
Proton Pass can protect your business.