How long does it take to a hack a password?

Reddit user hivesystems created a new chart that shows estimates of how long it would take to crack your password using a brute force attack. Using data from HowSecureIsMyPassword.net, the chart reveals that all passwords of 7 and less characters can be cracked in a maximum of six minutes.

Even a 10-character long password consisting exclusively of numbers can be cracked pretty much instantly. To be really secure, you need not only a high number of characters but also a combination of numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and symbols.

For example, a 10 character long password consisting of all these factors could take five years to crack. When you increase the character length to sixteen, while keeping the other parameters the same, it would take one trillion years to hack your password.

However, there's an important caveat. As computing power increases, brute forcing attacks also get more powerful. As such, ten years from now, a new version of this chart will look very differently.