Just how easy was it to pull off the Louvre heist? You'll be surprised

You know how annoying it is when you are trying to create a new password and the system keeps prodding you to add ‘special characters’ or numbers to the mix? Turns out, it’s not just to spite you.

It was a hard-won lesson for staff at the Louvre (and bit of an embarrassment too, we’ll bet) when French newspaper Libération revealed what was perhaps the biggest stroke of luck a jewel thief ever did encounter.

To quickly sum up what happened: In a less-than-eight-minute grab, a bunch of thieves pulled off a job worthy of the movies (just like Ocean’s Eleven, minus Brand Pitt). They rolled up in a truck in the middle of the day, used power tools and a ladder to break in and rush out with jewels worth a grand ol’ $102 million.

This isn’t really the worst of it though. That came later when it came to light that back in 2014, France’s national cybersecurity agency, ANSSI, had done an audit only to find passwords used that were quite guessable - like the name of the company that had developed the security software. A follow-up the next year didn’t fare any better.

There’s no news of any audits between now and then, but this year, after the robbery, shamefaced officials learned that much of the infrastructure being used was the same as 10 years ago and that pesky little password they were supposed to change? It was now the word 'Louvre'.

Do this, not that

Microsoft offers a few guidelines for when you want a safer key to your information stronghold. It states: Password security starts with creating a strong password. A strong password is:

• At least 12 characters long but 14 or more is better.

• A combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

• Not a word that can be found in a dictionary or the name of a person, character, product, or organisation.

• Significantly different from your previous passwords.

• Easy for you to remember but difficult for others to guess. Consider using a memorable phrase like "6MonkeysRLooking^".