Last Thursday, 4 May, was World Password Day.
This annual day is a timely reminder of the importance of passwords and the role they play in keeping us safe. As they are your first digital line of defence, here are some helpful tips to check that you are doing it right.
Use strong passwords
Your passwords should be:
- LONG – at least 12 characters, NEVER 8 or less
- UNIQUE – different for every account
- UNPREDICTABLE – not your name, dog, date of birth and also not common passwords such as “Passsword1!”
- Easy to enter without mistakes – passphrases are easier
- Remembered – you can write it down as long as you store this away safely. It’s better to write your passwords down than to use weak passwords that you can remember.
- Changed if your account has been compromised.
Passphrases are strong and easier to use
These days most websites will accept passphrases – a string of four or five unrelated words such as the classic “Correct-Battery-Horse-Staple”. Just make sure you choose the words randomly.
Here’s an easy way to generate good passphrases:
- Pick up a book – any book with lots of text
- Open at a random page and pick a random word – avoid common words like “the”, “and” etc – and write it down
- Repeat step 2 for as many words as you want to use. Put a full stop, hyphen or similar between the words if you like.
- Change at least one letter to a capital and add a number in the middle somewhere.
You now have a good passphrase that no-one is likely to have used before. - Test that the website will accept the passphrase and adjust it if needed.
- Write your passphrase down in a little book that you keep somewhere safe.
For more on passphrases see: https://www.cyber.gov.au/learn-basics/explore-basics/passphrases