How many characters does a password need to be truly secure?

Remember to regularly change your passwords. — AFP Relaxnews

The more characters in your password, the more difficult it is to crack. That’s why most online services now require passwords with at least eight distinctive characters (numbers, letters, special characters, etc). However, it’s even better to add a few more.

Cybersecurity specialist Hive Systems recently published a chart showing how long it takes to crack a password, depending on its number of characters and specific features. The chart indicates that eight-character passwords are only really effective if all kinds of different symbols are used. While it would take a hacker nine seconds to crack a four-character password containing numbers, upper and lower case letters, it would take seven years if it contained eight.