Horsham

How strong is your password?

How Strong is your Password?

Fraudsters regularly hack into personal online accounts to obtain details which will allow them to defraud you. To prevent fraudsters, it’s very important to use strong passwords when setting up and accessing online accounts and online banking.

There is no such thing as a perfect password (a committed hacker can crack any password given enough time) but there are some things you can do to protect yourself.

- Make sure passwords are memorable so you don’t have to write them down. Make sure they are unique.

- Th!nk ab0ut how you could change the l3tters in your n0rmal passw0rds to make them more difficult to gue55!

- Make sure passwords are not stored on devices that have shared access by other people, for example in internet cafes and when using other public Wi-Fi.

Passwords start to become strong at six characters long. While it can be annoying to type, a long password really helps to slow down hackers.

A good password starts with a base word phrase. This means choose a memorable catchphrase or quotation and take the first letters from each word, such as

Can’t see the wood for the trees = cstwftt
If the shoe fits, wear it = itsfwi
You can lead a horse to water = yclahtw

To lengthen the password add the website name to the base phrase. For example:

cstwfttGmail
itsfwiEbay
yclahtwAboutdotcom

You should change your password every few weeks so to make this easier you could rotate portions of your password as follows:

cstwfttEbay
itsfwiAboutdotcom
yclahtwGmail

Tech tip: passwords that are 15 characters or more are extremely strong because Microsoft Windows will not store scrambled passwords in hidden files once they are 15 characters or longer.

I hope you find the above useful.