How To Check The Password Complexity In Linux

We already posted a brief guide about - how to generate a strong password in Linux a while ago. Now, we are going to find out if the generated password is really strong or not. In this short tutorial, we will see how to check the password complexity in Linux from commandline.

Before going further, here are some useful tips to all those who wants to keep their system safe.

• Never ever use the same password for different Email accounts, ssh/ftp/sftp logins. If a hacker managed to crack your password, s/he literally have access to all accounts. So, generate and use different unique password for each account.
• A good password should be the combination of letters, numbers, special characters.
• Make sure your password has at least 12 or more characters. Check our guide how to force users to use strong password.
• Don't save your passwords online. Use good password manager or memorize them.
• Consider two factor authentication if possible.
• More importantly, don't use valid answers for security questions, eventually with enough data breaches, hackers will have all the answers. The common security questions are father's maiden name, school name, favorite pet's name, last name of first girlfriend/boyfriend, etc. Since much of the time these are stored in plain text on websites someone can gain access to many of your accounts by knowing these answers. Instead, put in mixed letters/numbers as answers and use a secure password manager to keep track of your answers. I came across this tip on Reddit. So I thought sharing it here would be helpful to someone.