What matters with passwords is length.
The longer it is the more impossible it will be for a computer to guess it.
Special characters and numbers are not nearly as important as length.
And don't worry about using dictionary words. As long as they are in combination with other words, it makes no difference. Even if a computer tried guessing your password using all dictionary words, it would never guess something like "feelgoodflowerpower" because it would not know where one word ended and another began.
The above password has 19 characters, each of which could be any of ~50 unique symbols. That means the possible permutations are 19 to the power of 50--something close to the number of known particles in the universe. Impossible for any super computer to guess.
Shorter combinations of letters and numbers like "London2012" are easier for a computer to guess, but more difficult for you to remember!
The best passwords are phrases that you find easy to remember. Something like "iwasbornsomewhereinlondon". This is so easy to remember, quick to type out, and is also tremendously secure.
Forget using combinations of letters numbers and special characters that are hard to remember and difficult to type. Phrases are the way to go.
I totally agree. I usually use a combination of generic password (as a baseline) and other phrases that will help me to remember which site and which password. It's pretty long. Over 20 characters. Good to know that a 19 long password is nearly impossible for super-comps to break.
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