09 May World password day!

Posted at 09:39h in technology by
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Did you celebrate World password day on May 5th?
If you missed it that’s OK, but you should still know how to manage your passwords.

So what should you do to keep you online accounts safe? We’ve listed a few tips!

  • Resist using birthdays, names of your pets or anniversaries.
    A British study revealed that up to 15%* of the population uses a pets’ name as part of a password.
    The same figure for American pet owners is 39%, according to Aura**.
    As many of us tend to share info like pets’ names on social media, this type of information can be easy to come by for cyber-criminals.
  • Try changing your passwords at least every 60 days.
  • Never use the same password for all your online activity. If a service is breached and your password is exposed, criminals may try to use it on other accounts.
  • Use a password manager app.
    These apps lets you create hard-to-break passwords and automatically log in to websites without having to remember those passwords. They can also help you analyse the strength of passwords, monitor accounts for data breaches and provide secure private browsing networks (VPN).
    A few popular password managers:
    1Password
    Dashlane
    Lastpass
  • Enable multi-factor authentication.
    This means you need to enter not only a password but also a one-time code that’s sent to you mobile phone.
    According to Microsoft, 99.9% of threats to passwords can be stopped using multi-factor authentication ***
  • Always practice “cybersecurity common sense”.
    This may include not clicking on suspicious links or attachments, never give away your passwords (or PIN), always check for the ‘https’ in the web browser before you enter your card number
  • Install a reputable anti-malware software and keep it up to date.
  • It’s also good practice to set your software to automatically update.


* Survey performed by NCSC in 2021
** https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/1-in-3-us-pet-parents-have-used-their-pets-name-as-their-password-301540387.html
*** https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2019/08/20/one-simple-action-you-can-take-to-prevent-99-9-percent-of-account-attacks/

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