The above graphic (courtesy of Hive Systems) indicates how long it takes to hack into passwords, dependent on the number of characters the password has and if it includes numbers, uppercase letters and symbols.

Passwords consisting of ten numbers or fewer can be hacked instantly, as there is a limited finite number of variations to attempt. This is a huge contrast to passwords consisting of a mix of numbers and both lower- and uppercase letters with more than 10 digits, which would take than 41 years or more to hack.

For more advice on how to create and use secure passwords, please see our previous news post here.