Things are moving on in the world of passwords because more powerful computers means they’re easier to crack.
The golden rule is LENGTH – use as long a password as you can.
The article on Trustwave’s web site says a password like ‘N^a&$1nG’ can be cracked in about 4 days but ‘GoodLuckGuessingThisPassword’ would take 17 years to crack.
And yes – many people still use ‘Password1’ or their pets, children’s or city name…….just don’t!
More here