password

Also known as pwd, p, passcode, passphrase

thumb|A password field in a sign-in form A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services that a typical individual accesses can make memorization of unique passwords for each service impractical. Using the terminology of the NIST Digital Identity Guidelines, the secret is held by a party called the claimant while the party verifying the identity of the claimant is called the verifier. When the claimant

AI overview

A password is a secret string of characters that you enter to prove who you are when logging into accounts and services. Passwords matter because they protect your personal information by ensuring that only you can access your accounts, though managing many different passwords across different services has become a practical challenge for most people.

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Image: Passwort-Feld.png

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Stack Exchange tag: stackoverflow.com/tags/passwords
equivalent class: d3fend.mitre.org/ontologies/d3fend.owl#Password

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~43 min read

Article

29 sections

Contents

History
Choosing a secure and memorable password
Alternatives to memorization
Factors in the security of a password system
Rate at which an attacker can try guessed passwords
Limits on the number of password guesses
Form of stored passwords
Methods of verifying a password over a network
Simple transmission of the password
Transmission through encrypted channels
Hash-based challenge–response methods
Zero-knowledge password proofs
Procedures for changing passwords
Password longevity
Number of users per password
Password security architecture
Password reuse
Writing down passwords on paper
After death
Multi-factor authentication
Password rotation
Password rules
Password cracking
Incidents
Alternatives to passwords for authentication
Obsolescence
See also
References
External links

In general, a password is a sequence of characters including letters, digits, or other symbols. If the permissible characters are constrained to be numeric, the corresponding secret is sometimes called a personal identification number (PIN).