Avoid using dangerous password generators

You shouldn't use just any password generator to create secure passwords. Some password generators are not what they appear to be.

You should not use any software password generator that you do not fully trust.

Passwords are often the only security mechanism websites use to protect your information from cyber criminals and thieves. It is the only obstacle stopping someone from accessing your personal information and data stored online.

Weak passwords offer weak protection. The likelihood of your passwords getting compromised is high. Once compromised, the thieves will gain access to your belongings.

To protect your digital assets you need strong, secure and unique passwords, created by strong and secure password generator.

You must first trust your password generator. You must have confidence that it will:

• generate truly strong passwords
• not steal your passwords after it generates them
  

Dangerous password generators can lead to loss of valuable personal information and data, and increased levels of stress. You should avoid the temptation to use them and instead set yourself up with a proper way to generate strong, unique passwords, which is with a password manager.

Recognizing dangerous password generators

Password generators are dangerous when they are created with a purpose to steal passwords.

What would you do if you needed a strong password generated? You would probably search for a password generator on the Internet.

Great, now you have a good, strong password. Or do you? And is the password you just generated entirely yours or are you sharing it with a password thief?

Maybe the online password generator you found was created by an honest person. They want to help by letting you generate a strong password and there is no other hidden agenda behind it.

That's certainly possible. But can you tell a safe password generator from the one that was designed to steal passwords or just doesn't really generate strong passwords?

And what if the honest person's website was broken into by a password-stealing criminal? The criminal installed additional software code that steals the generated passwords. The website creator is not aware of it, as they never audit their software.

Dangerous password generators are defined by two unknowns, qualify and safety.

Password generator quality

You have to have a different unique password for every website and online service. All of them have to be strong, because each one protects your valuable information and data from Internet thieves.

How do you know that the passwords you generated on some website or with software you downloaded from the Internet are actually strong?

Do you believe what the website says? Do you know if they have your best interests in mind? And if they do, what makes them the password generation experts?

Their passwords may look strong. They may even be strong.

But you don't know. If you don't know, you shouldn't use it.

Password generator security

Do you trust the password generator website or program you downloaded from the Internet with your passwords?

How do you know it is not malicious? Are you sure it is not saving your passwords for its own use? Maybe the website uploaded some information from your computer that will give it enough information, with the password it generated for you and saved for its records, to steal your data.

Even if the website is not malicious, are you sure no one broke into it? A thief could have hacked the website and modified it to steal generated passwords.

Such password generator may be authentic and secure.

But you don't know. If you don't know, you shouldn't use it.

How can you generate trustworthy passwords?

There are a lot of password generators out there on the Internet. You shouldn't trust any of them, because there are too many unanswered questions about the quality of their generated passwords and security of their services.

It is likely that you will come across dangerous password generators and won't be able to tell them apart from safe password generators. The only sensible approach is not to use any of them, and instead use the one you are confident is trustworthy.

You should use the password generator that comes with your password manager. They generate consistently strong and secure passwords, and you know a legitimate password security company is behind the product.