The dos and don'ts of creating a strong password
Why is having a strong password important?
These days a lot of sensitive information is stored digitally on computers, smartphones, email accounts and websites. Information is protected to prevent misuse and is achieved by generally restricting access and allowing it only to a select individual or group. Passwords are commonly used as a proof of identification to access the information.
Digital security prevents others from accessing your information but is useless if they can use your password to impersonate you. It is therefore important not to give your password to anyone or have a password easily predicted from information about you that is available to the public.
Creating a strong password
A strong password should be at least eight characters and consist of letters, numbers and symbols. You should not use information about you that is available to the public such as -
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Your name
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Your date of birth
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Name of partner/family members/pets
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Your favorites e.g. destinations/sports teams/hobbies
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Any information openly put online e.g. on your social media accounts.
It is good practice to have different passwords for different accounts so that if someone learns your password they can’t access all of your accounts. A password such as 'F9cjh%dk#c' is very strong, however, remembering many of these for different accounts would be very challenging. We recommend using a password manager such as 1Password or LastPass which is very secure and easier than writing down all your passwords. We also recommend enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on the accounts that support it for an extra layer of security.
Strong passwords are a key part of protecting personal and professional information, following this advice is a good step forward and will put you in a more secure place than most.
If you have any questions regarding this topic or others, do not hesitate to chat with the team.