How secure is your password? How long would it take a hacker to crack it?
Modern password cracking techniques have advanced tremendously. Today’s GPUs can perform hundreds of billions of password attempts per second. Weak or common passwords can be compromised in seconds.
Use the calculator below to estimate how resistant your password would be to different types of attacks. If the calculated cracking time is too short, it’s time to choose a stronger, more complex password — and protect your digital life! 🔐
🔐 Password Strength & Security Level Calculator
Passwords remain one of the most common forms of online protection — but at the same time, they’re one of the most frequently attacked. While password security has improved over the years, attackers now have powerful tools and hardware to crack even moderately complex passwords.
In this article, we’ll explore how hackers typically break passwords, what techniques they use, and what you can do to stay protected in today’s threat landscape.
Common techniques hackers use to crack passwords
🔹 Dictionary attacks
One of the simplest, but still highly effective methods. Attackers use pre-built lists of common passwords — such as names, dates, or popular phrases — and systematically test them.
If your password is something like “password123” or “summer2024”, it will almost certainly be among the first tested.
🔹 Brute-force attacks
In a brute-force attack, hackers use software to try every possible character combination, one by one.
Today’s high-end GPUs can perform billions or even hundreds of billions of guesses per second. This means that short or simple passwords can fall in seconds or minutes.
🔹 Hybrid attacks
This combines dictionary and brute-force methods. Attackers take common words and add variations — numbers, special characters, or common substitutions (e.g. replacing “a” with “@”, “o” with “0”).
Passwords like “Password123!” or “H0liday2023!” are prime targets for this method.
🔹 Rainbow table attacks
While modern systems store passwords securely (using salted hashes), older systems or poorly configured applications might still be vulnerable to rainbow table attacks — using pre-computed hash tables to reverse password hashes.
🔹 Credential stuffing
If you reuse the same password across multiple sites, this attack is particularly dangerous. When a database breach happens (which is increasingly common), attackers will take those leaked credentials and automatically test them on popular platforms — email, social media, banking, and more.
This is why reusing passwords is so risky.
How can you protect yourself?
The good news: defending against these attacks is relatively easy if you follow modern best practices.
✅ Use long and complex passwords
Aim for at least 12–16 characters, mixing:
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lowercase and uppercase letters
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numbers
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special characters
Avoid anything based on your name, birthday, or common words.
✅ Never reuse passwords
Every service you use should have a unique password. This completely prevents credential stuffing from succeeding.
✅ Enable two-factor authentication (2FA)
2FA adds an extra layer of security. Even if someone knows your password, they still need access to your second factor — typically an authenticator app or SMS code — to log in.
✅ Use a password manager
Modern password managers (like Bitwarden, 1Password, Dashlane) generate and store strong, unique passwords for each site — so you don’t have to memorize them yourself.
✅ Don’t worry about brute-force attacks on major platforms
Most serious services (Google, Microsoft, banks, etc.) implement rate limiting, account lockouts, or CAPTCHA after a few failed attempts. This effectively makes brute-force attacks infeasible on their login portals.
The real risk lies in weak passwords or reuse across multiple sites.
Password-cracking techniques are becoming more sophisticated — but so are the defenses. By adopting a few simple habits:
—you can make yourself a far more difficult target for attackers.
Want to know how secure your password really is?
Use the calculator above and find out — and if needed, create a stronger one today! 🔐