Password Strength [Improved in 1Password 4, stricter compared to 1Password 1.x for Windows]

Rob 1234

It seems that the password strength bar has changed a little in version 4. More of my passwords seem to be less than the full green bar that they used to be. Sometimes, shorter passwords have longer and greener bars than longer passwords. Maybe they are not as strong as I thought they were. They almost all have upper/lower case, numbers and symbols. What is the calculation for password strength?

MikeT

Hi @Rob 1234‌,

Each year as computers get faster, so does the ability to crack passwords, and we update our strength calculation to reflect that. What was originally a strong password back in 2000 wouldn't be so strong today. 1Password 4 definitely does have a stricter definition compared to what 1Password 1.x for Windows had.

Upper/lower case doesn't really do much to the strength because the tools take that in consideration when guessing the passwords. Numbers aren't as good as some folks would think it would be because of the smaller pool of digits compared to symbols and alphabetical characters.

As long as it is longer than 15 and includes symbols, it should be strong enough for today. You can see this in action by using our password generator. Open the main 1Password program, click the New Item button to select the Password category and start it off from the basic; no symbols with 10 character. Increase the length of the password to see how many you need to get to the full bar (30), then dial it back to 10 character and see the impact by including one symbol.

Rob 1234

I do use the password generator all the time. For passwords, user names, security question answers. I do miss the "fill" button that used to be there. I would copy the generated password anyway, so I could paste it back into the right place in 1Password. The fill button just saved me a paste or two.

I try to keep all my passwords very long. Except those annoying places that insist on shorter passwords than I would like.

I have posted about this before, but I like to export my login data. I do that to put it into a spreadsheet that I have that checks the length of the user name and password, and lets me know if they meet my standards. If they are both long enough, then I feel it is secure. There is also a string of characters I used to use in user names, that I now feel is too close to my name, so it highlights those so I can change them. I use this in addition to your password strength indicator. There is 1Password strong - then there is Rob strong!

MikeT

Hi @“Rob 1234”,

I do miss the "fill" button that used to be there. I would copy the generated password anyway, so I could paste it back into the right place in 1Password. The fill button just saved me a paste or two.

The Last Generated Password option will fill in the last password you generated into the site.

1Password's generator will fill in the password once you press OK. It's automatically done except in Internet Explorer for now.

I have posted about this before, but I like to export my login data. I do that to put it into a spreadsheet that I have that checks the length of the user name and password, and lets me know if they meet my standards

You can. Go to the File menu > Export and select the CSV format that will export your Logins.

Note that each time you use an export and work with your data in spreadsheet program, you are risking the exposure of your data since it is not encrypted nor protected with a password.

MikeT

Hi @Rob 1234,

Can you tell me which browser you're using? In Internet Explorer, the generator will not be able to fill in the new password when you generate a new password and press OK. However, it does fill it in automatically for other browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

Rob 1234

Sorry for the long delay in responding to you. I didn't see your question until today. I am using IE 11, which did the password fill properly in the old version of 1Password. It does not do it in version 4. It is not that big of a deal, just a feature that I miss.

I have to say that being a Windows user instead of a Mac user makes me feel like a bit of a second class citizen here. And using IE makes me feel like third class.

DBrown

Well, IE does throw up some obstacles to what 1Password needs to do, and some (like cross-domain frames) are unsurmountable; but we do everything we can to keep Windows users—even IE users—working at full capacity.

Thanks for holding our feet to the fire. Keep it up!