Passord

Passord, the Norwegian term for password, is a secret string used to verify a user’s identity and grant access to an account or system. Across digital services, a password is paired with a username or account identifier to form an authentication credential.

Effective passwords are long and unpredictable, avoiding common words or predictable patterns. They may include a mix of upper and lower case letters, digits, and symbols, but many systems impose restrictions on characters. Because people struggle with memorizing random strings, passwords are frequently memorized or written down, which can introduce risk.

In security practice, passwords are normally not stored in plain text. They are processed through a one-way hash function, often with a unique salt added per user to prevent precomputed attacks. Modern systems may use specialized hashing algorithms such as bcrypt, scrypt, or Argon2, and sometimes store additional metadata about password policy.

Common attacks aim to obtain passwords through brute force, dictionary attacks, phishing, or credential stuffing after a data breach. Keylogging and malware can capture keystrokes or clipboard data, while social engineering exploits trust to reveal credentials.

Best practices emphasize long, unique passwords for each service, the use of password managers to generate and store them, and enabling multi-factor authentication. Users should avoid reusing passwords, monitor for data breaches, and apply organizational password policies such as minimum length and complexity where appropriate.

Alternatives such as passkeys or hardware security keys are increasingly popular, reducing reliance on memorized secrets by using cryptographic tokens tied to a user’s device.