https://vllmr.org/tags/passwords/ Recent content in Passwords on My Blog Hugo en Mon, 03 Aug 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://vllmr.org/blog/generated-passwords-dont-need-special-chars/ Mon, 03 Aug 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://vllmr.org/blog/generated-passwords-dont-need-special-chars/ <p>This really needs to be said:</p> <blockquote> <p>If you are generating passwords, do not include special characters.</p></blockquote> <p>That&rsquo;s right, I said it. Passwords without special characters.</p> <p>I know, countless password policies and recommendations from all kinds of places mandate the use of at least one special character in a password. But guess what, adding an exclamation mark at the end doesn&rsquo;t mean you now have a good password.</p> <p>This rule is a rule of thumb that is given to users who are generally non-technical to help them choose a better password. The idea is that if adversaries are trying to find a password from its hashed form using brute force, they must work harder the larger the alphabet that makes up the password. And that&rsquo;s true. Except brute force rarely plays a role.</p>