The front door

Passwords are the front door to almost everything, and weak ones are still the most common way attackers get in. Two ideas keep that door shut: strong passwords, and a second lock called two-factor authentication (2FA).

A strong password is long and hard to guess. Length matters more than symbols: a long phrase beats a short scramble.

Systems should never store your raw password. They store a scrambled version called a hash. Run this to see hashing in action:

Run it again with a different password and watch the hash change completely. A site checks your login by hashing what you type and comparing, so it never needs your real password on file.

Exercise