The Art of Stronger Passwords in the Age of AI

Passwords are the most common form of authentication, the classic “something you know.” They remain the most widely used method of securing accounts around the world. Research shows that about half of all applications still rely on passwords alone, and only about 12 percent of people use a unique password for every application. The problem is that humans can only remember five to seven passwords on average, yet most of us juggle seventy to one hundred online accounts. That mismatch leads to risky habits, such as reusing passwords or storing them in a notes app (not you, of course). 

This article is not about promoting passwordless authentication, since many accounts are not ready for that. Instead, it is about the messy strings of text we still rely on to protect our digital lives. We will look at why passwords still matter, what makes some strong and others weak, and what their future might hold. By the end, you will have the tools to choose a smarter, stronger, and perhaps even an almost uncrackable password.  

Why Passwords Matter Now More Than Ever 

In today’s economy data is money, and for attackers your password might fetch only a few dollars on the dark web. If they can access your inbox or file system and steal corporate information, it could be worth hundreds of thousands. Whether it is your bank, email, social security, or health information, a password still represents one of the easiest ways intruders can get in. If you are using “password123,” it is like leaving your accounts wide open. As attacks become more sophisticated, strong passwords are essential. Many people know that “password123” is weak, but they may not truly understand what makes one password stronger than another, and it is not always what you think.  So to help, we’ll break down some simple priorities when deciding on your next password.  

Priority One: Length is the Most Important Factor for Strong Passwords 

Spoiler alert: password strength is not about how much it can bench press. Its weakness is also not about how easy it is for a human to read. Attackers have many ways to steal a password. Sometimes they trick you into typing it into a fake website, and in that case it does not matter how it is written because you have essentially given it away. 

The strength of a password matters most when attackers steal large databases of user credentials, often from companies with millions of accounts such as LinkedIn or Facebook. These databases do not store your password directly. Instead, they store a scrambled version of it. For an attacker to figure out the original, they have to make guesses and see which scrambled result matches. 

This process is called password cracking. It is much like trying to guess the combination to a safe. The longer and more complex the combination, the more guesses it will take. Attackers use powerful computers for this, and the stronger the computer, the faster it can guess. 

Take a look at the table below to see how long it would take using three different approaches: a simple Nvidia GPU cluster, online guessing, and a theoretical quantum computer. 

Table 1: Password Cracking Time by Length and Compute Power 
 

It does not take a math expert to see that the most important factor in a password’s strength is not how complicated it looks, but how long it is. Of course, longer passwords can be more annoying to type. But keep this in mind: if you used a password made of nothing but the letter “a” typed forty times, even a quantum computer would need hundreds of thousands of years to crack it. 

Priority Two: Unique and Centrally Managed 

Remembering dozens of unique and complex passwords is impossible, and that is not what we are asking you to do. A password manager can be a convenient way to save passwords, but it also creates a central place attackers may try to target. Storing your passwords in a secure vault is always recommended, but the password manager you choose should also help you rotate passwords and alert you if either the manager itself or one of your accounts has been compromised. When you combine this with a complex password, the window of opportunity for attackers becomes much smaller. 

Priority 3: Don’t  Keep Unused Accounts 

Just as you would update a password for an active account in your password manager, you should also remove accounts you no longer need. If you have not logged into that Myspace account since the early 2000s, it is probably time to let that old band page go. You may not think your Hotmail account holds much value, but if you once used it as the backup email for a bank account you still have, then it is best to log into [email protected] and close it before someone else takes advantage. 

Priority Four: Monitor Accounts (Shameless MDR Plug) 

The last thing you would expect from your bank is that nobody is watching the safe. The same should be true for your online accounts. Monitoring login attempts and system changes is just as important as locking the door in the first place. Dark web scans and breach notifications often come weeks after your data has already been exposed. Continuous monitoring of your accounts, including free credit monitoring where available, adds a crucial extra layer of protection.  

Looking Ahead: How AI Changes the Password Game 

Attackers are not just using faster computers anymore. They are starting to use artificial intelligence to guess passwords in smarter ways. Instead of blindly trying every combination, AI models can learn from billions of leaked passwords and then predict the kinds of passwords people are most likely to create. That means passwords based on names, birthdays, sports teams, or song lyrics can fall much faster than before. 

AI also makes phishing attacks harder to spot. Fake login pages or scam emails can be generated automatically, with convincing grammar, logos, and even AI-generated voices pretending to be someone you trust. In those situations, even the strongest password does not help if you accidentally give it away. 

On defense, AI can be a powerful ally. Security systems are already using it to notice unusual login patterns, like a sign-in attempt from another country at three in the morning, and then block or challenge that attempt. AI can also help monitor dark web dumps to see if your password has been leaked and alert you faster than traditional scans. 

So AI cuts both ways: it makes attackers faster and smarter, but it also gives defenders better tools. This makes the basics long, unique, and well-managed passwords, plus monitoring more important than ever now and in the future.