Password Policy Checker
NIST Password Guidelines (SP 800-63B)
✓What Organizations SHOULD Do
- •Minimum Length: Require at least 8 characters for user-chosen passwords, 6 for machine-generated
- •Maximum Length: Allow at least 64 characters
- •All Characters: Accept all printable ASCII characters, including spaces
- •Unicode: Support Unicode characters (emojis, international characters)
- •Breach Checking: Compare passwords against lists of commonly used, expected, or compromised passwords
- •Rate Limiting: Limit failed authentication attempts (to prevent brute force)
- •Show Password Option: Offer option to display the password while typing
- •Password Managers: Allow paste functionality (don't block password managers)
✗What Organizations SHOULD NOT Do
- •Composition Rules: Don't impose arbitrary complexity requirements (e.g., "must include uppercase, number, and special character")
- •Password Expiration: Don't require periodic password changes without evidence of compromise
- •Password Hints: Don't use knowledge-based authentication (e.g., "What is your mother's maiden name?")
- •SMS 2FA: Don't use SMS as two-factor authentication (use authenticator apps or hardware tokens instead)
- •Truncation: Don't silently truncate passwords
Key Principles
A longer password (e.g., "correct horse battery staple") is generally more secure than a shorter complex one (e.g., "P@ssw0rd!").
Complex rules frustrate users and often lead to predictable patterns (e.g., "Password1!", "Password2!").
Check passwords against breach databases rather than forcing arbitrary complexity.
MFA is more effective than complex password requirements for security.
Password Security Tips
- ✓Use a password manager to generate and store unique passwords
- ✓Create passphrases with 4-5 random words (e.g., "correct-horse-battery-staple")
- ✓Never reuse passwords across different sites
- ✓Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever available
- ✓Avoid personal information (names, birthdays, addresses)
- ✓Change passwords immediately if a service reports a breach
Need Help with Password Policies?
Our security team can help you implement robust password policies and multi-factor authentication across your organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the Password Strength Checker
A strong password combines length (12+ characters minimum), complexity (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols), and unpredictability. Avoid dictionary words, personal info, common patterns like "123456" or "qwerty", and sequential characters. The most important factor is length - each additional character exponentially increases cracking difficulty.
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⚠️ Security Notice
This tool is provided for educational and authorized security testing purposes only. Always ensure you have proper authorization before testing any systems or networks you do not own. Unauthorized access or security testing may be illegal in your jurisdiction. All processing happens client-side in your browser - no data is sent to our servers.