Password

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What Does Password Mean?

A password is a basic security mechanism that consists of a secret passphrase created using alphabetic, numeric, alphanumeric, and symbolic characters or a combination. A password is used to restrict access to a system, application, or service to only those users who have memorized or stored and/or are authorized to use it.

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A password may also be called an access code, PIN, or secret code.

Techopedia Explains Password

A password is one of the most used access control procedures applied in virtually all digital and computing appliances. Generally, a password is used in combination with a user name, and in most cases, an individual must provide both to gain access to a system, network, or other password-protected area. In most applications and services, passwords are created by the users themselves and are typically separate for each different system or service used — hence the wide use of password managers.

In good security practices, a password should be between eight and 24 characters long and include at least one capital letter, one number, and one special character. Words are frequently used, but this is not recommended because they are more easily guessed or cracked.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.