Your passwords are the most common way to prove your identity when using websites, email accounts and your computer itself (via User Accounts). The use of strong passwords is therefore essential in order to protect your security and identity. The best security in the world is useless if a malicious person has a legitimate user name and password.
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- Always use a password.
- Ensure you use strong passwords, and do not disclose them to anyone else.
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Preventing Identity Theft
Your identity is precious. Keep it that way with a few simple precautions.
Your identity is precious. Keep it that way with a few simple precautions.
Passwords are commonly used in conjunction with your username. However, on secure sites they may also be used alongside other methods of identification such as a separate PIN and/or memorable information. In some cases you will also be asked to enter only certain characters of your password, for additional security.
The Risk of Using Weak Passwords
- People impersonating you to commit fraud and other crimes, including:
- Accessing your bank account
- Purchasing items online with your money
- Impersonating you on social networking and dating sites
- Sending emails in your name
- Accessing the private information held on your computer
Choosing the Best Passwords
Do:
- Always use a password.
- There are no hard and fast rules, but you could consider the following suggestions:
- Choose a password with at least eight characters (more if you can, as longer passwords are harder for criminals to guess or break), a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and keyboard symbols such as @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ +. (for example SP1D3Rm@n – a variation of spiderman, with letters, numbers, upper and lower case). However, be aware that some of these punctuation marks may be difficult to enter on foreign keyboards. Also remember that changing letters to numbers (for example E to 3 and i to 1) are techniques well-known to criminals.
- Combine two or more unassociated words, for example things you see when you look out the window or on your desk. Examples: MagpieDrainpipe or MonitorEarwigBrick. Note that these would not be suitable where one or more numerical characters are required.
- A line of a song that other people would not associate with you.
- Someone else's mother's maiden name (not your own mother's maiden name).
- Pick a phrase known to you, for example 'Tramps like us, baby we were born to run'" and take the first character from each word to get 'tlu,bwwbtr'
- Consider using a password creator, for example: https://identitysafe.norton.com/password-generator
Don’t:
- Use the following as passwords:
- Your username, actual name or business name.
- Family members’ or pets’ names.
- Your or family birthdays.
- Favourite football or F1 team or other words easy to work out with a little background knowledge.
- The word ‘password’.
- Numerical sequences.
- A single commonplace dictionary word, which could be cracked by common hacking programs.
- When choosing numerical passcodes or PINs, do not use ascending or descending numbers (for example 4321 or 12345), duplicated numbers (such as 1111) or easily recognisable keypad patterns (such as 14789 or 2580).
Looking After Your Passwords
- Never disclose your passwords to anyone else. If you think that someone else knows your password, change it immediately.
- Don't enter your password when others can see what you are typing.
- Change your passwords regularly.
- Use a different password for every website. If you have only one password, a criminal simply has to break it to gain access to everything.
- Don’t recycle passwords (for example password2, password3).
- If you must write passwords down in order to remember them, make sure they are meaningless to, and unusable by other people by writing them in code (substituting the characters in your password with others that you can remember, or easily work out).
- Do not send your password by email. No reputable firm will ask you to do this.
The fact that you should use different passwords for each of your accounts can make them very difficult to remember. Consider using one of the many password vaults available on the internet, but read reviews and get recommendations.
Controlling User Accounts
Everybody who uses a computer should be assigned their own user account so that only they can access their files and programs. Each user account should be accessible only by entering a username and password in order to safeguard users’ privacy. Other user account features can also be set up in user accounts – including parental controls (Windows Vista and Windows 7 only).
Do not use an account with administrator privileges for everyday use, as malware could assumeadministrator rights. Even if you are the only user, set up an administrator account to use when you need to carry out tasks such as installing programs or changing the system configuration, and another ‘standard user’ account as your regular account. If you are not logged in as administrator, you will be prompted to enter an administrator password when you install a new device driver or program. You can manage user accounts in Windows Control Panel.