Using strong passwords is important to maintaining security of your data on your computer and on the web. However, most people have no idea how strong or weak the passwords they use are. Here are some sites/tips to help you check to see if your password is secure.

For Mac users, you can use the Keychain Access program to check your passwords locally. Go to Applications > Utilities > Keychain Access. Then from the File menu select "New Password Item...". Click on the lock icon next to the Password field and this will open the Password Assistant. You can use the Password Assistant to generate different types of passwords by selecting different values in the Type pulldown. Or you can select Manual in the Type pulldown and enter a password of your own making to have the strength of the password measured. In addition to measuring the strength, if the strength it poor it will give you tips as to how to improve the strength.

Microsoft offers an on-line password checker at: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx. The nice thing about their checker is that it does not transmit your password across the web. The downside to this password checker is that if the strength of the password is poor, it does not offer any tips as to what needs to be done to improve the strength of the password.

Another web based password strength checker can be found at http://www.securitystats.com/tools/password.php. While this site does offer tips on how to improve weak passwords, it does require that the password be transmitted over the web. That right there may be a cause for concern.