How secure is your password, really?

It is common knowledge that you should set a password which is long and complex enough for your online account. But how secure is your password? It seems difficult to have an intuitive way to measure it.

A new website that has been launched recently made an interesting attempt in this aspect. Its name and URL are quite straightforward: How Secure is my Password. There is only one text box on the website interface, and as long as you enter your password, it will immediately tell you its security level.

Unlike other similar services that only give you vague information such as "password too weak" or "password secure", the interesting part of this website is that it can tell you the time required to crack the password. For example, if you enter a password like 123456, the reply will be "your password is one of the 500 most common passwords, and it can almost be cracked instantly."