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Poor password hygiene and the use of weak or reused passwords is the root cause of over 81% of all data breaches. In this latest blog our Digital Guardian Lily Edwards picks out the P – PASSWORDS and provides some easy, clear and understandable hints and tips taken from her mnemonic – RESPECT.
Hello Cyber Gang. It is Lily your Digital Guardian.
Today I am going to talk about passwords and keeping your identity safe.
It’s really important that we keep our identity safe when using the internet. I don’t mean just computers! iPad’s and smart phones should be treated with the same RESPECT!
Why do you need to do this? Well it’s like this gang if you get hacked criminals can get access to all your personal information and bank details. With this they can pretend to be you. You may have heard the term cloning? They are one and the same thing.
What you can do to protect yourself is really easy.
Passwords. Make sure they have at least 10 characters and are completely random just like me!
Use some capitals, some numbers and special characters like the and sign or exclamation marks on your keyboard.
Your most important password is protecting your email account! By having an easily guessed password is like leaving your house unlocked! Now your mum wouldn’t be happy with that would she! If criminals access your email account, they find it easier to get into your other accounts.
Personally, I use different food types as a remembering point because I simply love food! Pepperoni pizza I would change to Pep pizza ten percent or Peppiz10%.
I change the spelling of the word, so it doesn’t make sense replace some of letters with capitals, numbers and special characters. Easy peasy to remember and that would take some guessing! Now you have a try!
- Don’t use names places or objects and never write them down just remember them.
- Never use the same password for different accounts or devices and change your passwords regularly.
- Never tell anyone your password and remember if you are approached online by email, social media, a phone call or by a text from any social network, bank, shop or any internet account, they will NEVER ask you to divulge your full password at anytime. So if you are asked you are probably being scammed! Do not reply, switch off the link immediately or terminate the call and tell your parents or teacher.
Stay safe and see you all again soon!
Lily