A word(pad) about passwords

As any other professional we are concerned about security; data analysts and DBAs, we often use complex passwords to secure our data and our web accounts. One draw-back I often encounter is when I change the language or keyboard -depending the client I’m working with-, and some special characters may not be present at my fingertips.

Take this as an example: RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK

which is not available on Spanish keyboards. Its Unicode number is the hexadecimal 2019.

Thanks to this article: Three ways to enter Unicode characters in Windows

I learned a new way of typing special characters.

Open up Wordpad (write.exe) , type the hexadecimal number, in this case 2019, and then Alt+x.

It will convert the preceding numbers in the corresponding Unicode character. Easy, isn’t it? Next you only need to copy and paste it in the corresponding text box. Of course you should not write the entire password in Wordpad, just the special chars, because there are programs out there that can sniff your clipboard.