More Important Than Ever To Have Strong Passwords

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The FBI says Americans lost nearly $7 billion from internet crimes last year.

Experts say it's more important than ever to have strong passwords.

But many people use easy passwords because managing them can be a major pain, from remembering them, to resetting them, to writing them down and forgetting where you put the paper. Cyber security company NordPass says some of the most common include "1,2,3,4,5,6" and the word "password" itself.

"For hackers, breaking those passwords is easier than ever," says Alex Nette, CEO of cybersecurity company Hive Systems.

He said the average hacker can crack a complicated seven-character password in 31 seconds. But the longer the password, the harder it is to guess.

A new report from Hive Systems found a password with 10 characters including letters, symbols, and numbers would take five months to figure out. An 18-character password would take 438 trillion years, according to the study.

"One of our favorite tricks is actually to use what's called a passphrase, so instead of having random characters all mixed up, use a long sentence like, 'I like to go to the beach in October.' That's actually a really strong password," Nette says.

But he said you shouldn't use the same password on multiple sites because if one site is hacked, the others will be at risk.

So how do you remember all of them?

"We recommend something called a password manager," said Nette.

There are many management systems on the market that can hold all of your passwords. Of course, you'll need a password to get into it.

In addition to strong passwords, it's also important to use two-factor authentication on sensitive sites. A special code is sent by email or text, offering an extra layer of security.