For you system administrators, network engineers, and heck – really anybody who needs to come up with a fool proof password, I have an add-on for Firefox that will fill your needs.  The simply named pwgen – Password Generator for Firefox is a simple, yet efficient way to generate a random password on the fly.

Once you install it, a small “P” icon will show up in your browser’s status bar.  All you have to do is click on it, and a password will be generated using the settings you have put in.  By default, the password will be shown to you and copied to your clipboard.  To change the options, all you need to do is right-click on the icon and select options.  From there you have a number of specific settings you can change, such as what the first and last characters start with, the password length, if you want to display the password or not or if you wish to copy the password to the clipboard or not.

Why use a complicated password?  Well, if a password is too short or simple, it is vulnerable to attack.  The simpler the password is, the easier time somebody will have to figure it out.  On the flip side, the more complicated the password, the harder it will be to figure out.

All in all, the pwgen – Password Generator extension for Firefox is a perfect one for those of you who may have a hard time coming up with a random mix of letters and numbers to use for your next secure password.