How to manage your passwords effectively

This article is designed to help increase your awareness on how you can manage your passwords effectively.

This article includes: 

A password is a sequence of letters, numbers and characters used to gain access to a program or system.  A passphrase is similar to a password, but is generally a sequence of words and therefore longer in length.  

To ensure your online safety, you should always use your own login credentials. Never share your login credentials or use generic logins used by others.

 Note

Did you know that contrary to its name, a password does not have to be an actual word? A mixture of letters, numbers, and characters are best

Should I use a password or passphrase?

Either can be used. 

Passwords should be at least 8 characters long, a mixture of upper and lower case letters and include some numbers and symbols too.  E.g. Exampl3P455w0rd!

Passphrases can be three or four random words that have no correlation to each other. They can be generated online using a passphrase generator, or entirely made up by you (however they should not be too obvious and personal to you). E.g. YellowWaterfallTobogganTree

How can I ensure my password, or passphrase, is secure?

One way to ensure that your password, or passphrase, is secure is to use different passwords for each site that you visit. If someone gains unlawful access to your account, ask yourself what other data they can access using the same information on a different site.  

You can also use a password management tool (the Google Chrome browser will do this for you) but be aware that if someone has access to your computer, this might not be the best way to keep track of your passwords.  

 Best practice

For added security, change your passwords regularly and don’t use the same password for multiple websites

Related articles:

How do I stay safe online?

Understanding premium rate phone number scams

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