Staying Safe Online

Passwords

We are all, apparently, getting better at creating passwords but around 25% of us still use passwords such as: 'password', 'letmein', '123456', 'trustno1' or 'querty' for example (see The 25 Most Popular Passwords of 2014).

It is as important as ever, however, to create safe passwords (but ones which you can remember!). Consider one for general use and another for secure personal use. Check strength of passwords at https://howsecureismypassword.net/ (but experiment with similar passwords rather than your actual passwords - just in case!). Try substituting letters for similar looking numbers or symbols.

For example try typing the following into https://howsecureismypassword.net/:

• Password
• Pa22w0rd
• P@22w0rd
• MyP@22w0rd

Similar variations could be created using a memorable word such as your pet's name or street where you live then applying a 'rule' (e.g. substituting certain letters for numbers or symbols, alternating caps and lower case, writing in reverse, etc.)

Alternatively, you could instead think of a memorable phrase then take the first (or the last!) letters/numbers to create a password - applying the 'rules' above also if neccessary.

e.g. "Password is one of the most easily hacked passwords today" would become:

P100tmehpt (and would take about 6 years to crack - not very easy after all!)

Using techniques such as this may not create passwords which can never by hacked, but for most purposes they will be strong enough - especially if you change them regularly and don't store any important ones on the computer.

Email Problems

• check if a suspect email is SPAM or a SCAM by pasting its subject line into Google
• NEVER follow an email link to a banking site or PayPal for example - always type in the address yourself and go to the site directly to check.
• If something seems too good to be true - it probably is!