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Do you pay as much attention to your passwords as you need to? I will have to be honest and say that I probably need to be more vigilant in this regard. For the time that I spend online and all the sites that I gain secure access to, I do not really put that high of a priority in strong passwords. What I read today has made me think really hard, though.

John Pozadzides, Internet standards expert, CEO of web company iFusion Labs, and blogger recently published an article titled “How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords.” What he revealed is striking, to say the least.

We all know that the longer the password, the better. Combining letters and numbers is even better. Using a mixture of lowercase letters and capital letters is another way to strengthen your password. We KNOW all these things. But, did you know just how much of a difference using ONE capital letter in your password can make? Check out this table below. It shows the time an average computer will need to figure out the password for an account using certain programs (which, by the way, can be found FREE online!).

With this in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if you start changing your passwords now. I suggest that you read the full article as it provides more specific information on how to make your passwords stronger. Passwords are your first (and oftentimes last) line of defense, and yet sometimes, they are taken for granted.