Why Password Length Matters More Than Symbols, and How to Generate Strong Ones

A guide aimed at developers highlights that password length is the most critical factor in security, far outweighing the common practice of adding symbols or uppercase letters. A 16-character lowercase password can take centuries to brute-force, while an 8-character password with symbols can be cracked in hours. Human-chosen passwords are inherently predictable, making cryptographically secure random generators — such as the browser's crypto.getRandomValues() API — the only reliable way to create truly strong credentials. Experts recommend using 16 or more characters combining all four character sets for database passwords, and 32–64 character alphanumeric strings for API keys and tokens. Password reuse is also flagged as a major risk, with the advice that even a strong password becomes weak the moment it is used across multiple accounts.