Password Checker

Password Checker

I built a new tool today, written in Python, to check passwords. I had a lot of run-ins with users, even as a help desk/system administrator, and I wanted to build a tool, even for myself, to help generate passwords. Hopefully, this helps out if users question the policy and shows them how to make stronger passwords or use the generator as an example of a strong password. Here’s the rHere'sr it:

Simple download too:

git clone https://github.com/HackingHusky/password-checker
cd python_checker.py
chmod +x python_checker.py

This is the basic coding for it:

import re
import string
import random

# ------------------------------
# Password Complexity Checker
# ------------------------------

def check_password_complexity(password):
    
    criteria = {
        "length": len(password) >= 12,
        "lowercase": any(c.islower() for c in password),
        "uppercase": any(c.isupper() for c in password),
        "digit": any(c.isdigit() for c in password),
        "special_char": any(c in string.punctuation for c in password)
    }
    
    feedback = []
    
    if not criteria["length"]:
        feedback.append("- Password must be at least 12 characters long.")
    if not criteria["lowercase"]:
        feedback.append("- Must contain at least one lowercase letter.")
    if not criteria["uppercase"]:
        feedback.append("- Must contain at least one uppercase letter.")
    if not criteria["digit"]:
        feedback.append("- Must contain at least one digit.")
    if not criteria["special_char"]:
        feedback.append("- Must contain at least one special character.")

    if all(criteria.values()):
        return "Strong Password!", []
    else:
        return "Password does not meet requirements. Please follow the criteria below:", feedback


# ------------------------------
# Compliant Password Generator
# ------------------------------

def gen_pw(length=14):
    # Avoid ambiguous characters
    lowercase = ''.join(c for c in string.ascii_lowercase if c not in "l")
    uppercase = ''.join(c for c in string.ascii_uppercase if c not in "IO")
    digits = ''.join(c for c in string.digits if c not in "0")
    
    # Safer punctuation set
    safe_specials = "!@#$%^&*()-_=+[]{};:,.<>/?"

    # Ensure at least one of each category
    required = [
        random.choice(lowercase),
        random.choice(uppercase),
        random.choice(digits),
        random.choice(safe_specials)
    ]

    # Fill the rest
    all_chars = lowercase + uppercase + digits + safe_specials
    remaining = [random.choice(all_chars) for _ in range(length - len(required))]

    password_list = required + remaining
    random.shuffle(password_list)

    return ''.join(password_list)


# ------------------------------
# Main Program Loop
# ------------------------------

if __name__ == "__main__":
    while True:
        print("\n--- Password Tool ---")
        print("1. Check a password")
        print("2. Generate a compliant password")
        print("3. Exit")

        choice = input("\nChoose an option (1, 2, or 3): ").strip()

        if choice == "1":
            user_pw = input("\nEnter the password you want to check: ")
            strength_message, feedback_list = check_password_complexity(user_pw)

            print(f"\nPassword Strength: {strength_message}")
            if feedback_list:
                print("\nFeedback:")
                for item in feedback_list:
                    print(item)
            else:
                print("Your password meets all recommended criteria.")

        elif choice == "2":
            generated = gen_pw(14)
            print(f"\nGenerated Compliant Password: {generated}")

            strength_message, feedback_list = check_password_complexity(generated)
            print(f"\nPassword Strength: {strength_message}")

            if feedback_list:
                print("\nFeedback:")
                for item in feedback_list:
                    print(item)
            else:
                print("Password meets all recommended criteria.")

        elif choice == "3":
            print("\nGoodbye!")
            break

        else:
            print("\nInvalid choice. Please try again.")

For testing it, it's a quick script anyhow, and here's how ihere'ss:

You can change it for longer password lengths, but that is how simple it really is. Because with a weak password, you can get hacked easily with tools like John the Ripper/Hashcat and wordlists like rockyou or common passwords. And it's just good hygiene, too. Here’s also a quick YouTube video of the tool I made as well:

Thanks for reading!