Password encryption is essential to store user credentials stored in a database securely. Without password encryption, anyone accessing a user database on a company's servers (including hackers) could easily view any stored passwords.
Even a strong 32-character password created using a <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator">secure password generator</a> is useless without password-encryption! If someone can read your password on a server, they can use it simply by copy/pasting it&mdash;no matter how long or complicated the password might be!
Encryption scrambles your password before saving it on the server. So, if someone hacks the server, instead of finding password123, they find a random series of letters and numbers.
In this article, we're going to explore the world of password encryption, why <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/tips-and-tricks-to-create-a-strong-password">strong passwords matter</a>, and how you can practice better password management!
<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">TeamPassword</a> is the password management solution for small businesses! Create, store, and share login credentials safely with employees, contractors, and clients. <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> today!
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;[Table of Contents]
<ul>
<li><a href="#understandingpasswordencryption" rel="follow">Understanding Password Encryption</a></li>
<li><a href="#howdoespasswordencryptionwork" rel="follow">How Does Password Encryption Work?</a></li>
<li><a href="#5commonpasswordencryptionmethods" rel="follow">5 Common Password Encryption Methods</a></li>
<li><a href="#whystrongpasswordsmatter" rel="follow">Why Strong Passwords Matter</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="understandingpasswordencryption">Understanding Password Encryption</h2>
To explain password encryption effectively, we must first grasp the language. Several terms might be unfamiliar, so here is a quick intro to password encryption terminology.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Key: Used to lock and unlock passwords using a random string of bits. You get private and public keys that crypt and decrypt data differently, but we won't get too deep in the weeds with keys!</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Bits: A logical state with one of two possible values, including 1/0, true/false, yes/no, or on/off as typical examples.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Block (block cipher): A deterministic algorithm operating on fixed-length groups of bits, called blocks.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hash function: The algorithm that uses the key to create password encryption and decryption. A hash function is essentially a piece of code that runs every time someone saves a password or logs into an application.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hash: A random series of numbers and letters representing your password. The hash function uses your hash instead of the raw password for authentication.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Salt: Additional letters and numbers appended to the hash</li>
</ul>
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<h2 id="howdoespasswordencryptionwork">How Does Password Encryption Work?</h2>
When you save a new password, a hash function creates a hash version and saves that on the server.&nbsp;
Every time you log in using your password, the hash function recreates the hash to see if it matches what's stored. If the hashes match, the algorithm passes the authentication and logs you in.&nbsp;
For example:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Original password: Pa$$w0rd123</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hashed password: 6AF1CE202340​FE71BDB914AD5357​E33A6982A63B</li>
</ul>
While this might seem secure, simple hashed passwords aren't hack-proof.
The hash function only creates a unique hash for each password, not each user. So, if multiple users have the password, Pa$$w0rd123, the hash will be exactly the same.
To overcome this encryption vulnerability, engineers salt passwords so each hash is unique, even if the passwords are identical.
<h3>How Salt Works</h3>
A salt appends a unique value of 8 bytes (16 characters) to the password before the hash function creates a hash. This way, even identical passwords are unique before the hash function.
For example:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Two identical passwords: Pa$$w0rd123</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Salt value one: E1F53135E559C253</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Salt value two: 84B03D034B409D4E</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password one before hash: Pa$$w0rd123E1F53135E559C253</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password two before hash: Pa$$w0rd12384B03D034B409D4E</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password one hashed value (SHA256): 72AE25495A7981​C40622D49F9A52E4F15​65C90F048F59027BD9​C8C8900D5C3D8</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password two hashed value (SHA256): B4B6603ABC670​967E99C7E7F1389E40​CD16E78AD38EB1468E​C2AA1E62B8BED3A</li>
</ul>
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<h2 id="5commonpasswordencryptionmethods">5 Common Password Encryption Methods</h2>
<h3>1. Data Encryption Standard (DES)</h3>
While applications no longer use Data Encryption Standard (DES), it's important to mention this password encryption method because of its history and influence on more secure modern standards.
IBM developed DES as a 56-bit encryption technology in the early 1970s. The NSA adopted and improved DES before it was approved worldwide as the encryption standard.
However, since the late 70s, hackers have been able to break DES encrypted passwords. In 1999, ethical hackers managed to break a DES key in under 24 hours.&nbsp;
To make DES more secure, engineers created Triple DES and later Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which we still use today.
<h3>2. Triple DES</h3>
Triple DES uses three 56-bit keys (blocks) to create 168-bit encryption (some security experts argue that Triple DES is only 112 bits strong). Although Triple-DES is slowly being phased out, many financial institutions still use it to encrypt ATM PINs.
<h3>3. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)</h3>
AES is the new encryption standard&mdash;trusted by the United States Government and many other prominent organizations globally. At 128 bits, AES is sufficiently secure, but most organizations prefer heavy-duty 256-bit encryption.
At <a href="https://teampassword.com/security">TeamPassword</a>, we use 256-bit encryption to store passwords, ensuring the highest levels of security for our clients. We're also a <a href="https://teampassword.com/security">secure hosting provider</a> holding multiple security accreditations.
Hackers can only break an AES encrypted password through a brute-force attack&mdash;trying password combinations to find the right one.
To counter brute-force attacks, applications will lock an account after a certain number of attempts or use tools like Google's reCAPTURE.
<h3>4. Blowfish</h3>
American cryptographer, Bruce Schneier, designed Blowfish in 1993 as an antidote to the weak DES encryption. Blowfish uses a 64-bit block and variable key length of 32 to 448 bits.
Although Blowfish is more robust than its DES predecessor, the 64-bit block is still vulnerable to attacks, most commonly birthday attacks&mdash;a cryptographic attack that exploits the mathematics behind the algorithm.
To solve Blowfish vulnerabilities, engineers created Twofish in 1998 (128-bit blocks with 256-bit keys) and Threefish in 2008 (256, 516, 1024-bit blocks with 256, 516, 1024-bit keys).
<h3>5. Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA)</h3>
RSA is one of the oldest and widely used to transfer data securely. The encryption works with two keys, two large prime numbers, and an additional auxiliary value.
Due to the complicated encrypting and decrypting process, there is no known method for breaking RSA encryption.&nbsp;
Although widely used for transferring data, RSA is slow and not suitable for password encryption.
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<h2 id="whystrongpasswordsmatter">Why Strong Passwords Matter</h2>
Password encryption can only prevent criminals from viewing saved credentials stored on a server&mdash;but cannot prevent hackers from guessing weak/commonly used passwords. If you <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack-dont-reuse-passwords">reuse the same password for multiple accounts</a>, this also puts you at risk!
Encryption is most effective when users create robust, unique passwords for every account. For example, a random 32-character password with letters, numbers, and special characters hashed and salted is near impossible to guess or decode, even using a computer!
In another scenario, let's assume you have a strong 32-character password, but you use it for every account. If hackers manage to steal that password, they have access to every account using the same credentials! Your strong password is effectively useless.
<h3>Improving Your Password Management</h3>
Now that you understand password encryption and the associated vulnerabilities, you can see why strong passwords are essential.
Effective password management is crucial to protect yourself against cyberattacks or in the highly likely event of a data breach where hackers steal your credentials.
Criminals are after the low-hanging fruit&mdash;people who use weak passwords!
5 tips for creating stronger passwords:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Create strong passwords for every account. The easiest way to do this is using a password generator. <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator">TeamPassword has a free password generator</a> anyone can use to create passwords from 12-32 characters using uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters. We recommend creating passwords as long as the application will allow.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Never create passwords shorter than eight characters, with 12 being our recommended minimum.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Never reuse the same password for multiple accounts.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Never create passwords with your name, family member's names, or pet's names. With social media, this information is freely available. Criminals can add those names to algorithms for brute-force attacks.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Don't store passwords in digital notepads or spreadsheets. We recommend using a <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password manager like TeamPassword</a> to create and store your credentials.</li>
</ol>
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<h2>Why You Need a Password Manager like TeamPassword</h2>
We have so many accounts these days; it's almost impossible to create unique, memorable, secure passwords for each one. A password manager solves this problem.
Instead of remembering the credentials for every account, you only need to memorize the one to log into your password manager.&nbsp;
TeamPassword keeps all of your credentials safely stored and encrypted, so you never have to memorize a password again. Instead of entering your credentials, you use one of TeamPassword's browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) to log into accounts.
<h3>Built for Teams</h3>
TeamPassword's best feature is its ability to share credentials with team members securely. Instead of sharing passwords, you provide access through TeamPassword.&nbsp;
Employees <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">use TeamPassword</a> to log in, meaning you never share raw passwords&mdash;no more worrying about unauthorized access or sharing.
You can create groups in TeamPassword to share access with employees, clients, contractors, and freelancers. When someone no longer needs access, remove them from the group with a single click. No need to change passwords every time someone leaves a project!
<h3>Built-In Password Generator</h3>
TeamPassword features a built-in secure password manager so you can create robust passwords for every account. TeamPassword also ensures you never reuse the same credentials so that you won't fall victim to credential stuffing attacks!
With a built-in password generator, you can change passwords regularly, and TeamPassword will update the new credentials for all users!
<h3>Monitor Login Activity</h3>
TeamPassword's activity log keeps track of every action across all of your accounts&mdash;logins, password changes, new team members, sharing access, and more.
You can also set up email notifications for all TeamPassword actions so that you can react fast to any suspicious activity.
<h3>Get Your Free TeamPassword Trial</h3>
Password encryption is not enough to protect your business from password vulnerabilities! You need a robust password manager like TeamPassword to create, store, and share credentials securely.
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<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> and let TeamPassword secure your company's digital assets.

Password encryption is the number one component of password security. TeamPassword encrypts passwords with state-of-the-art technology to keep passwords safe.

Password encryption is the number one component of password security. TeamPassword encrypts passwords with state-of-the-art technology to keep ...

What is password encryption and how much is enough?

What is password encryption and how does it work?

In this article, we explain how to share Wi-Fi passwords in different situations on different devices. How you share the Wi-Fi password is going to depend on a couple of things: the level of security you need to have over your Wi-Fi, the proximity of sharing, and how often you need to share your password.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s easy to give the password verbally to a friend every couple of months, but 60 times/day in your caf&eacute; is another story. Similarly, if you have a Wi-Fi set up for the front of the house in your caf&eacute; and keep a separate, secure connection for the back of the house, then you can feel safer in your decision to freely share the Wi-Fi password with patrons directly.
When dealing with the most secure business settings, the simplest solution is also the most secure: a password manager. Password managers allow you to share Wi-Fi passwords as well as all the other passwords you need across your team in a safe and secure manner. This is where <a href="https://teampassword.com/">TeamPassword</a> comes in.
Teams sharing passwords will become increasingly common as organizations move toward more remote settings across various locations. TeamPassword&rsquo;s password managers retain trust by enabling teams (up to fifty users per account) to share passwords while safeguarding confidential credentials and driving productivity within organizations.
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<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Start a trial today</a> to empower your teams with comprehensive password management.&nbsp;
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<h2>How to share your Wi-Fi on iPhone, iPad, or Mac&nbsp;</h2>
You can share Wi-Fi passwords among Apple devices easily. Be sure that your guest is in your contacts and that you are in their contacts as well. Furthermore, ensure that your iPhone, iPad or Mac is up to date.
Your iPhone needs to be running iOS 11 or newer, your iPad running iPadOS, and your Mac macOS Sierra or newer. Once you&rsquo;ve confirmed you are mutual contacts and running the appropriate operating system, follow the steps below to share Wi-Fi.
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Make sure that both devices have their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on. Then, confirm that Personal Hotspot is turned off. Be sure the other device is unlocked and nearby.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Your device must be connected to the network you wish to share. If you have a guest network, then make sure you are also connected to the guest network.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Your guest can now select your Wi-Fi network from the list of nearby networks.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You should get a prompt asking if you wish to share the Wi-Fi password with the device.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Finally, tap&nbsp;Share Password.</li>
</ol>
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<h2>How to Share Your Wi-Fi on Android</h2>
With Android, things are slightly more complicated. First, make sure that your devices are running Android 10 or later. Then, you can use QR codes to share Wi-Fi passwords.&nbsp;
The good thing about learning this system is that it can be used among Android, Apple, and Windows devices as well, so even if it is just a little more complicated than the Apple system, once you know how to share Wi-Fi passwords with QR codes, you won&rsquo;t need to learn a second method.&nbsp;
Note that not all Androids have the same Settings menu, so you might find things are a little different on your device from the instructions below.
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">As with the Apple instructions, you need to be connected to the network you wish to share, and if that is your guest network, then you may need to first reconnect using the guest Wi-Fi.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Go to Settings, Network, and Internet (this is sometimes called Connections), and then Wi-Fi.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Click the cog next to your Wi-Fi network.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Next, press the&nbsp;Share&nbsp;icon on the right. You should then see a QR code on the screen.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Have your guest scan the QR code.&nbsp;</li>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">If your guest is using an iPhone, they should be able to scan the QR code with their normal camera app.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2">If your guest is using an Android phone, then have them go to Settings, Network, and Internet (again, this is sometimes called Connections), and then Wi-Fi. When they scroll down to Add Network, they should be able to see a QR code icon next to it. Once they tap on this, they can scan the QR code.</li>
</ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">For both iPhones and Androids, simply scanning the QR code should give them access to your Wi-Fi.</li>
</ol>
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<h2>QR Code Generator</h2>
Using a QR code generator for sharing Wi-Fi passwords is the easiest and most device-agnostic method. Any modern device can generate as well as read QR codes. However, not all devices come with this functionality out of the box.&nbsp;
Thankfully there are loads of decent apps available for generating QR codes to share Wi-Fi passwords. QiFi.org and Qrafter are two popular choices. WiFi.org focuses on Wi-Fi codes, so it might be an easy choice if you aren&rsquo;t that comfortable with technology. Qrafter has a free iOS app, so if you think this is something you won&rsquo;t do very often, it might be best.&nbsp;
Another one is QR Code Generator. The following instructions for sharing the Wi-Fi password use QR Code Generator, but they are all very similar, and with a little clicking around, you should be able to figure it out.
Here are the instructions:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Select the Wi-Fi setting.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Enter the network name (the &ldquo;SSID&rdquo;) and password. Sometimes you need to enter the security type as well, so confirm that in your Wi-Fi settings if necessary.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Click Generate to give you the code.</li>
</ol>
After all of that, you can follow Steps 5 and 6 for the Android sharing instructions.&nbsp;
This is the easiest way to share among different operating systems&mdash;Android, iOS, and Windows. With Windows, this is especially valuable as they have removed sharing networks with contacts using Wi-Fi Sense due to security concerns.&nbsp;
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<h2>How to Find Your Wi-Fi Password on Windows</h2>
As mentioned above, you used to be able to share Wi-Fi passwords on Windows desktops with contacts using Wi-Fi Sense, but Microsoft scrapped this feature because of security concerns. There is really no easy shortcut now to share Wi-Fi passwords.&nbsp;
The easiest thing to do here is probably to look up the password and then share it verbally or type it into your guest&rsquo;s device yourself.&nbsp;
You can find your Wi-Fi password by clicking on the Windows icon, going to Settings, and choosing Network &amp; Internet. Go to the Status tab and then select Network and Sharing Center.
You can then click on Connections: Wi-Fi, choose Wireless Properties in the pop-up window, select the Security tab, and finally check the Show Characters box under the Network security key.
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<h2>Why Can&rsquo;t I Share Passwords via Email or Messenger?</h2>
Simply put, sharing passwords over email or chat is dangerous because the messages might not be end-to-end encrypted. That means someone could eavesdrop on the conversation and then use your login credentials.&nbsp;
While not every way of sharing a password listed below is dangerous, the others can be frustratingly slow or require more effort than is necessary.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Written notes: While a written note could be safe, you have to have a lot of faith in the chain of custody. After you give the password away, are you confident that the receiver will shred and dispose of the piece of paper safely? If not, it might be best to avoid sharing your Wi-Fi password this way.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Emails and text messages: As mentioned above, these messages can be sent as plain text, which means that anyone who intercepts the message will be able to see your password.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Text files and spreadsheets: Having a shared document could be safe&mdash;if you password protect the document and keep that password safe. But, if your organization is keeping their passwords in a spreadsheet, it is a safe bet that the spreadsheet is also not optimally protected.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Verbal communication: Yes, it is reasonably safe to share Wi-Fi passwords verbally, and this isn&rsquo;t too much of an encumbrance when you have a friend visit your home once in a while. However, this eats up valuable time when repeated across your organization many times every day.</li>
</ul>
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<h2>How to share a password with TeamPassword</h2>
Having strong passwords is a given, but if you share passwords via unsecured routes, you are trading one vulnerability for another. Indeed, most teams make obvious <a href="https://www.teampassword.com/blog/top-five-mistakes-when-sharing-passwords-with-your-team">mistakes when sharing passwords</a>.
The best way to secure your IT infrastructure is to use a password manager that includes sharing features. A password manager like TeamPassword offers high-level encryption and two-factor authentication so that only the right people can make sense of the passwords.
Before anyone can access the list of shared passwords, they must log in to the platform using their personal password and a short-term authentication code.&nbsp;
Teams often need to share passwords to access mutual accounts including Wi-Fi. However, you don't have to put your data at risk to make this possible. You can use <a href="https://teampassword.com/">TeamPassword</a> to securely generate, store, and share Wi-Fi passwords within a team.&nbsp;
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If you&rsquo;re unsure where to begin,&nbsp;<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">sign up for a TeamPassword free trial</a>&nbsp;to secure your shared passwords once and for all.

This article explains how you share Wi-Fi passwords in different situations from one device to another device. | TeamPassword

This article explains how you share Wi-Fi passwords in different situations from one device to another device. | ...

How to Share the Wi-Fi Password Easily to other devices

How to Share the Wi-Fi Password Easily from Device to Device

<h2>What Is a Brute Force Attack, and Are You at Risk?</h2>
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A brute force attack is when hackers use trial and error to guess login credentials, encryption keys, or some other hidden information. Hackers essentially work through all possible codes of characters in order until one of the combinations works.
The attack is called &ldquo;brute force&rdquo; because it is just an unsophisticated use of login attempts to get into an account. It is essentially an overwhelming attempt to &ldquo;force&rdquo; one&rsquo;s way into a secured location.
This is one of the oldest forms of attacks, but it is still popular today. It can take anywhere from seconds to longer than the age of the Universe to crack a password using this method depending on the complexity of the chosen password and the amount of cloud computing resources put to use in the attack.
To prevent brute force and related attacks, you need to ensure your team is using long, complex, and random passwords. This is best accomplished using a password manager.&nbsp;
<a href="https://teampassword.com/">TeamPassword</a> keeps all your passwords safe and up to date so that they are there when you need them.
TeamPassword lets you safely share passwords with teammates while ensuring that your projects are safe.
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Sign up today for a <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">free 14-day TeamPassword trial</a> and protect your company's digital assets from cybercriminals.
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<h2>Types of brute force and related attacks</h2>
While the traditional brute force attack is unsophisticated and relies on cycling through all random combinations of permissible characters, meaning that the word &ldquo;password&rdquo; is equally safe (or not safe) as the combination &ldquo;aT./$x6m&rdquo;, in practice, brute force attacks are modified or combined with others making <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack-dont-reuse-passwords">reused</a> or common passwords far less safe. The following are some of the brute force and related attacks used today:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Simple brute force attacks</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Dictionary attacks</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hybrid brute force attacks</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Reverse brute force attacks</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Credential stuffing</li>
</ul>
<h3>Simple brute force attacks</h3>
The simple brute force attack simply cycles through all possible passwords in order. As an overly simple example, if your login information allows only lowercase, six-digit passwords, then it would start at &ldquo;aaaaaa&rdquo;, go to &ldquo;aaaaab&rdquo;, and so on until hitting &ldquo;zzzzzz.&rdquo;
<h3>Dictionary attacks</h3>
Dictionary attacks are often used as the prelude to a brute force attack. They are not brute force attacks themselves, but in combination with a brute force, attack make it far more likely that the brute force attack will succeed.&nbsp;
In these attacks, the hacker first tries all words in a dictionary. These dictionaries include not only the words you&rsquo;d find in the Merriam-Webster dictionary but also variations of the words and lists of commonly used passwords as well. For example, instead of just &ldquo;password,&rdquo; you&rsquo;d find &ldquo;Password,&rdquo; &ldquo;p4ssw0rd&rdquo;, &ldquo;Pa55W0rd123&rdquo;, and so on.&nbsp;
This is why both complex and unique passwords are needed.
<h3>Hybrid brute force attacks</h3>
The hybrid attack is the mixture of the simple brute force attack and dictionary attack mentioned above. They are particularly good at finding common passwords that have been mixed with some form of <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/password-best-practices-what-makes-a-password-strong">padding</a>.
Padding is when you take a password, e.g., &ldquo;Password,&rdquo; and then add a set of random characters to the end, e.g., &ldquo;1.1/1.1/2.2/2.2&rdquo;. While &ldquo;Password1.1/1.1/2.2/2.2&rdquo; is a much stronger password than either half separately, these hybrid systems will run a brute force method for cracking the padding behind common passwords.
<h3>Reverse brute force attacks</h3>
Instead of running through billions of potential passwords, the reverse brute force method uses a common password and then tries to find any account using that password. For example, knowing that the password &ldquo;qwerty&rdquo; is still disastrously common, the hacker will keep using that password while trying to find usernames of people who have unfortunately not updated their password thinking since the last millennium.
<h3>Credential stuffing</h3>
This method works with username-password combinations that have been <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/have-i-been-pwnd-what-to-do-when-it-happens">pwned</a>. Being &ldquo;pwned&rdquo; means that your credentials have been leaked online.&nbsp;
Since many users reuse their login information on many sites, hackers will check a known password&ndash;username combination across hundreds of other sites in hopes that someone has reused their pwned credentials.&nbsp;
In our quest to become more secure, passwords become less and less easy to remember. This leads to password reuse. Let <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">TeamPassword</a> take care of securely remembering your team&rsquo;s passwords, so they don&rsquo;t use the same passwords as on less secure sites.
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<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a>, so TeamPassword can start protecting your network today!
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<h2>Tools that Aid Brute Force Attempts</h2>
It goes without saying that this isn&rsquo;t being discussed to encourage password cracking, but just to see exactly what you are up against when trying to secure a network. Hackers have created an entire ecosystem of tools to aid them in their nefarious actions, and you should be aware of them to appreciate just how hard it is to maintain a secure network.
<h3>Automated tools&nbsp;help with brute force attacks.</h3>
Instead of manually entering every possible password, it is unsurprising that hackers have created automated software to run their brute force attacks. These automated programs can run through dictionary attacks as well.&nbsp;
Many of these tools have workarounds to work against computer protocols (e.g., MySQL and Telnet), hack wireless routers, decrypt passwords in encrypted storage, translate words to different forms (e.g., password, p4ssw0rd, and Pa55WoRd), and identify weak passwords.
<h3>Some tools can scan pre-compute rainbow tables.</h3>
A rainbow table is a pre-computed table for caching the output of cryptographic hash functions, usually for cracking password hashes. Thus, scanning rainbow tables removes the hardest part of the brute force attack to speed up the rate of cracking.
<h3>GPU Speeds Brute Force Attempts</h3>
Brute force attacks require a huge amount of computation. GPUs can do this work much more easily than CPUs, so many brute-force software packages enable the use of GPUs.
<h3>Combining the CPU and GPU&nbsp;</h3>
Combining CPUs and GPUs accelerates computing power even further. GPUs can process parallelizable processes incredibly quickly. That is, any computing process that can be broken down into many smaller components to be run at the same time can be done across the thousands of computing cores in the GPU at a rapid pace. With this method. Hackers can crack passwords about 250 times faster than a CPU alone.
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<h2>How effective is a complex password against a brute force attack?&nbsp;</h2>
Brute force attacks can be thwarted by long, complex passwords. However, that doesn&rsquo;t mean you are entirely without vulnerability just because you force users on your network to pick complex passwords.&nbsp;
Let&rsquo;s assume you make everyone on your network choose a password with a minimum length of 12 characters with at least one lowercase letter, uppercase letter, number, and special character. That is, it meets the following requirements:&nbsp;
Lowercase letter {abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz}
Uppercase letter {ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ}
Number {0123456789}
Character {!@#$%^&amp;*()_+{}|:"&lt;&gt;?~`-=[]\;',./}
This is very effective against a brute force attack: to crack that password by trying 20,000,000,000 attempts per second, which can be accomplished using a cloud computing platform, would take an average of 3,300 years. But is that enough?
Although it would prevent a pure, simple brute force attack, if a hybrid brute force attack were used instead, then it would depend on how unique the password is as well. If your employee chooses the password &ldquo;Password-123&rdquo;, then chances are it will be found in the dictionary prelude to the brute force attack, and a hacker will be on your network in seconds.
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<h2>What do hackers gain from Brute Force Attacks?</h2>
Brute force attacks are not cheap. Either the hackers need to own a huge computing service or pay for that server time. Alternatively, they might spend years developing a botnet to carry out the attack. So, where is the payoff? Well, hackers can profit in many different ways:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Profiting from ads or collecting activity data</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Stealing personal data and valuables</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Spreading malware to cause disruptions</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hijacking your system for malicious activity</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Ruining a website&rsquo;s reputation</li>
</ul>
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<h2>How can you reduce your risk of brute force attacks?</h2>
There are many ways you can reduce your risk of brute force attacks. Often, just being a difficult target is enough online as there are still people using &ldquo;12345678&rdquo; as their password, and the reduced effort makes them a more profitable target.
<h3>Longer passwords with varied character types</h3>
Whenever possible, use long, complex passwords with lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters.&nbsp;
<h3>Elaborate passphrases</h3>
If a site allows you to create passwords of any length, consider a passphrase&mdash;or the combination of many words&mdash;mixed with special characters. For example, instead of &ldquo;H3ll0#&rdquo;, try &ldquo;hello.MY-nAmE/15_what&rdquo;. The sheer length combined with special characters and numbers makes it much harder to crack through brute force or dictionary attacks.
<h3>Stay away from frequently used passwords.</h3>
Passwords need to be complex and unique! One or the other will not fool hackers for even a minute.
<h3>Use unique passwords for every site you use</h3>
It is always worth reiterating: never reuse passwords. If your password is pwned on Fortnight, that might be annoying. If the hackers then use that password to empty your bank account, it goes from upsetting to months or years of misery.
<h3>Remove unused accounts</h3>
Keep your network safe by removing old users regularly and immediately if they have high permissions.
<h3>Use a password manager.</h3>
The best thing you can do to prevent a brute force attack is to help your users create strong passwords by providing a password manager. Only with <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">TeamPassword</a> can you facilitate your team in becoming proactive participants in network security.&nbsp;
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> to test TeamPassword with your team members today.

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Over the last decade, the gig economy boom has allowed professionals worldwide to switch to freelancing and build a network of international clients.&nbsp;
According to Upwork, 1 in 3 US workers engaged in freelance work during 2020. Some of the most successful freelancers earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per year through platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and Toptal.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Does your company hire freelancers? How do you <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/should-i-share-data-with-freelancers">share passwords with freelancers</a>? TeamPassword is an affordable password management solution for small businesses, startups, and agencies to share credentials securely with team members and freelancers. <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> today.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h2>10 Successful Freelancers</h2>
Here are ten successful freelancers and what they do. These freelancers have earned their place as experts in their given field with excellent track records&mdash;many have worked with the biggest companies in the world!
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<h3>1. Scott Luscombe - Graphic Designer / Shopify Expert / Website Developer / Copywriter&nbsp; - Canada</h3>
Scott Luscombe is a freelance graphic designer, Shopify expert, website developer, and copywriter from Uxbridge, Canada. He holds a degree in Illustration from Sheridan College and a degree in Marketing from the University of Toronto.
Scott has been a freelancer for most of his professional career and has earned over $500k on Upwork. He has completed over 311 jobs and worked&nbsp;10,956 hours!&nbsp;
Scott's work includes graphic design and branding, illustration and icons, copywriting, website design and development, UX/UI, and printing and packaging. He also provides freelance coaching and consulting. Scott is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer currently charging $99 per hour for various creative gigs.
Some of Scott's most notable work includes designs for Coca-Cola, the Canadian Cancer Society, Nickelodeon, and Wallet Ninja (to name a few).&nbsp;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>2. Kathy Edens - Marketing Consultant / Freelance Copywriter - United States</h3>
<a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~016177d19f0624c1a7?viewMode=1">Kathy Edens is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer</a> with over $300k platform earnings! Kathy has been self-employed as a marketing consultant and freelance copywriter for almost ten years from her home in Ohio, United States.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Professional Writing and Psychology from Oregon State University, which she says "...helps me understand how to reach your target audience with words."&nbsp;
Kathy has ghost-written several non-fiction books on various topics, including social entrepreneurship, healthcare, real estate investing, and the cannabis industry, to name a few.
Kathy also writes web content, sales pages, email marketing content, case studies, white papers, brochures, press releases, and more. Kathy's rates start at $86 per hour for her writing and marketing services.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>3. Koen van Oeveren - UX designer - Netherlands</h3>
Koen van Oeveren is a freelance UI &amp; UX designer from North Brabant, Netherlands, with almost ten years of experience. Koen works with several design agencies in the Netherlands, designing apps, websites, and eCommerce experiences for many international brands.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Koen holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Communication and Multimedia Design from Avans University in the Netherlands. Koen's <a href="https://www.koenvo.com/index.html">portfolio website Koenvo</a> was nominated for a <a href="https://www.awwwards.com/sites/koenvo-ui-ux-portfolio">2021 awwwards. Award</a>.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>4. Pascal Strasche - Product / UX designer - Germany</h3>
Pascal Strasche is a product and UX designer with more than ten years of design experience from Germany. He holds a Master of Arts in Interaction Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design, both from HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
For almost a year over 2020/2021, Pascal worked as the sole product designer to design Con Cubo's SaaS tool that helps complex organizations visualize and manage teams. He's also worked with German steel giant XOM Materials to find product solutions to digitalize&nbsp;Germany's steel industry.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In 2019, Pascal founded Product Design Resources, a growing archive of 800+ design resources, weekly updated for the design community.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>5. Paul Hunkin - Developer - New Zealand</h3>
Paul Hunkin is a freelance software consultant and developer from Tauranga, New Zealand, but currently living in Portugal.&nbsp;
Paul has over ten years of experience as a software developer with an impressive work history, including Google, NASA, InfoSys, and the Chinese aerospace industry leader COMAC.
He's worked with several early-stage startups designing everything from high-performance big-data systems to complex web applications to 3D rendering engines. He's also built a lot of the foundational code for independent games on Android.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Paul is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer with over $400k in platform earnings. His rates start at $120 per hour for software development. <a href="https://paulh.consulting/">Check out Paul's website</a> for more about his impressive portfolio and work history.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>6. Jana Galat - Writer / Brand Strategist - Canada</h3>
Jana Galat is a freelance copywriter and brand strategist from Ontario, Canada. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Management and Organizational Studies from King's University College and an Honors in Business Administration from Western University.
Jana has extensive experience writing landing pages, email campaigns, social media ads, and print materials and says, "I am obsessed with creating copy that sells..."
After several years of professional work experience, Jana went freelance in 2019 and has quickly built a reputation as a <a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01bfa17a48301876dd">Top Rated Upwork Freelancer</a> with over $70k in platform earnings. Jana's rates start at $100 per hour for copywriting and brand consulting.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>7. Kate H. - Logo Designer / Branding Expert - United States</h3>
Kate is a freelance professional logo designer and branding expert from Maryland, United States. Kate&nbsp;ran her own green wedding brand which she sold to mywedding.com in 2014, allowing her to focus on helping small&nbsp;businesses figure out what they want (and who they are) and translate that into design.
She holds a Master's degree in Environmental Management from Yale School of The Environment, and a J.D. in environmental law from Pace Law School.&nbsp;
Kate's skillset includes redesigning and updating material to make it easier to understand, building a consistent brand from a simple starting point like a logo, and creating unique logos that guarantee results.
Kate is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer, and her rates start at $225 per hour. You can find out more about Kate on her <a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~013ce73876c1c18126" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Upwork profile</a>.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>8. Marcos Rezende - UX designer - Canada</h3>
Marcos Rezende is a UX Designer from Ontario, Canada, with more than 13 years of experience. Marcos has worked in over 30 industry sectors for multinational organizations in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Brazil.&nbsp;
Some of Marcos' notable projects include apps for Ontario's COVID-19 dashboard, Urban Master Planning collaboration platform, and Reaction (kid's e-learning app), to name a few.&nbsp;
Marcos loves sharing his industry expertise with aspiring UX designers and regularly writes for the popular UX publication Career Foundry. Total recognizes Marcos as part of its "Top 3%" of global freelancer talent&mdash;a title given to elite freelancers in their given field.
We don't have access to Marcos' rates, but the best UX designers on Upwork earn upwards of $100 per hour. As a Toptal Top 3% freelancer, Marcos likely charges $200-$300 per hour.
<a href="https://www.marcosrezende.com/">Marcos Rezende's website</a> was nominated for the prestigious <a href="https://www.awwwards.com/sites/ux-portfolio-marcos-rezende">awwwards.</a> in 2021.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>9. Tanya Litvinova - UX/UI Designer - United States</h3>
Tanya Litvinova is a freelance UX/UI designer from New York City, United States. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design / Communication Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Tanya specializes in product, mobile, and web design as well as user experience flow, research, and validation.
"I have a passion to make the complex simple, shape behavior, design, plan, and strategize. Aiming for the best user experience, all the while balancing the needs of business and technology to create engaging, habit-forming digital products."
Tanya has worked with Fortune 100 &amp; Fortune 500 companies and successfully delivered business-transforming data-driven analytics, responsive BI dashboards, enterprise web apps, and management systems. Some of Tanya's notable clients include KOCH Industries, BlackRock Financial, BCG Group, and FireEye, to name a few.
<a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~0165035041b26e96df">Tanya is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer</a> with more than $200k platform earnings. Her current rate starts at $162.50 per hour.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>10. Guangming Lang - Data Scientist - United States</h3>
Guangming Lang is a freelance data scientist from Michigan, United States. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from New College of Florida and a Master of Science in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan. Guangming has also completed several Coursera courses in data science and machine learning.
Guangming has been a freelancer since 2013 and has worked across several industries, including fintech, trading, medicine, biotech, advertising, and HR.&nbsp;
Guangming is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer with over $400k in platform earnings. He's completed 216 jobs on Upwork totaling 3,805 hours! Guangming's current rates start at $200 per hour.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h2>Secure Freelancer Workflows With TeamPassword</h2>
No matter how talented or reputable the freelancers and contractors you hire, your company must use secure workflows to protect your digital assets.
Freelancers often need access to shared accounts and tools. Using a <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password manager</a> is the first step to securing these accounts and platforms. You can also use a password manager to share credentials with employees, clients, and other stakeholders to ensure you never expose raw passwords via email, spreadsheets, chat apps, and other non-secure methods.
<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">TeamPassword</a> lets you create groups to share access with only those who need it. When they're done, revoke access with a single click. No need to change passwords every time someone leaves the team.
If you do need to change a password, TeamPassword's built-in <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator">password generator</a> lets you create secure passwords between 12-32 characters using numbers, letters (uppercase/lowercase), and symbols.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Ready to onboard clients and freelancers securely with TeamPassword's robust <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password management solution</a>? <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a free trial</a> to secure your company's digital assets today!

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