What does it take to make a password ‘unbreakable’? According to leading security research company Security.org, it’s a combination of at least one uppercase letter plus a number plus a symbol. Seems simple, but is that really all it takes?

Firstly, it is important to note that the following statistics are only reflecting how fast a computer could hack your password, not accounting for a human hacker. Real-life actors can easily get a headstart by digging up personal information, via social media platforms and online accounts, which is perfect for guessing your passwords.

Back to the computer-powered hacking, Security.org crunched the numbers on how long a password crack would take comparing different combinations. When lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and symbols combine in a 12+ character password, a computer would take 34,000+ years to crack the magic combo.

What do we take from this information? In terms of a computer-led password hack, varying the characters you use does have an effect on strength of your password.

Are you ready for the plot twist? You don’t need numbers and symbols and uppercase letters to create a super-strong ‘unbreakable’ password. In fact, a 16-character lowercase password gives the same result as a 12-character password with all the variations: 34,000 years.

This means a passphrase can be just as strong or stronger than a varied-character password as long as you have the length. A passphrase is a simple tactic that combines three random words to create a password that is not only very strong but easier to remember than those with a combo of symbols and numbers. For example, tangobubblemelon is a passphrase that is just as strong as the password 22Butterfly@.

So that’s what it takes to generate an ‘unbreakable’ password. How unbreakable are your passwords? You can find out with Security.org Password Security Checker.