How to set up a secure password

Being asked to type in your password is an almost daily occurrence for most people. We use a password to access our mobile phone, laptop, tablet, social media profiles, email accounts and a range of other online accounts. This keeps your accounts secure and your private information safe from hackers and fraudsters. However, it is important to keep your password safe and choose something that cannot be easily worked out. This is exactly how hackers gain access to computer systems and online accounts – by guessing your password. Therefore, this article will take you through how to set up a strong password that even the cleverest of hackers will struggle to figure out. 

What makes a good password? 

• Contains a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols such as exclamation mark or question mark. 
• Does not contain personal information such as nicknames, middle names, mum or dad’s name, special dates or the name of your pet. 
• At least 8 characters and longer if possible.
• Mix up characters. Most people will place a number or symbol at the end of the password or have just the first letter uppercase. Place uppercase letters and symbols throughout the password to make it harder to guess.
  

Strong Password vs Weak Password 

sF47!vYO+

ShK$4pLn

3J@nEsmItH98

These passwords are good as they contain a mixture of upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols and they cannot be easily guessed. 

password

Password12

janesmith123

However, these passwords are far too basic and will be easy to work out as they spell out a word or a name. They also do not contain a selection of upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols. 

How often should you change your password? 

 Experts recommend you change your password every 1-3 months. Although this may seem like quite a lot this is the best way to stop hackers from accessing your accounts. It means that if someone guesses your password, they will only know it for a short time until it is changed. 

Also, if you are ever notified that your account has been accessed on another device or if you suspect that someone else has found out your password, you should immediately change it. 

Some accounts may prompt you to change your password at certain times throughout the year I.e every 3 months or every 6 months. Remember to make sure your new password is just as strong as the previous one. 

How easy is it for someone to figure out your password?

Easier than you may think. 

Think about how many people know your personal details. How many people know your birthday, pet’s name, nickname, family member’s names or your favourite food? These are all commonly used to form passwords. A lot of this information is also easy to get hold of on social media. 

There is also malicious computer software that fraudsters can use to steal people’s information by sending a computer virus to their device (usually attached to spam email). This software will track what is being typed into a computer and any words or phrases that look like they could be a password will be identified. Don’t worry, this does not happen often as most computers have strong anti-virus software installed. 

Keeping your password secure

• Do not write it down anywhere. 
• Change your password regularly. Ideally, you should change your passwords every 1-3 months.
• No one else should know your password. Do not give your password out to anyone. Social media sites, banks, online stores etc will never ask you for your passwords. 
• Turn off “show my password”. Some accounts let you view your password as you type it in. You should turn this feature off especially if you are in a public area. 
• If your device is set to display a password hint, make sure the hint is only something you could work out. If possible try to turn this function off.