Password Settings for High-Risk Accounts (2025 Guide)

Banking, email, work accounts, and admin dashboards are considered “high-risk” — if compromised, the damage can be severe. Use these recommended settings to keep them secure in 2025.

1. Minimum Password Length

For high-risk accounts, **16–24 characters** is the recommended minimum. Shorter passwords are vulnerable to brute-force and dictionary attacks. Use a password generator or a strong memorable passphrase.

2. Use Maximum Entropy

Entropy determines how hard a password is to guess. Learn more in our guide: Password Entropy Explained.

3. Avoid Predictable Structures

Attackers know patterns like:
• Capital letter + lowercase + numbers + symbol
• Years and birthdays
• Keyboard patterns like qwerty123 These fall instantly to automated guessing.

4. Use Unique Passwords Everywhere

Never reuse passwords for banking, email, or social media. Reuse is one of the biggest security mistakes people make — covered in our guide Top Password Mistakes.

5. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

MFA blocks **99% of automated attacks**. Enable it for:
• Banking apps
• Email
• Social media
• Admin dashboards Especially for kids’ devices — see: kids password habits guide.

6. Use Passphrases for Master Passwords

If you use a password manager, your master password should be long and memorable — use a method described in Create Memorable Passphrases.