Online Safety: Ten top tips for stronger passwords (5.5.23)

Welcome to our weekly online safety bulletin! Each week of the school term, we will provide useful tips, facts and guides on how to stay safe online. 

This week's theme is: Stronger Passwords

According to a Google survey, more than half of us (52%, to be exact) routinely re-use the same passwords, with around one in ten employing a single password across all of their online accounts. What that means, of course, is that any hacker successfully cracking our password would find themselves with access to not simply one of our online accounts, but several (at least).

That, along with the fact that many people’s favoured passwords aren’t exactly impenetrable, makes it easier to see why some sources put the number of online accounts being broken into at around 100 per second. Yes, you read that right: 100 per second. To help give you some extra peace of mind about your digital data, our #WakeUpWednesday guide has some tips on setting more secure passwords.

In the guide you'll find a number of top tips on setting stronger passwords such as how to get creative, what to avoid, and the value of multi-factor authentication.

21 10 top tips for a stronger password.pdf

Useful links:

Internet Matters - This website has lots of practical advice and information, including detailed guides on how to set up parental controls on a range of devices. 

Childnet - Help, advice and resources for parents and carers 

Parent Zone - Digital advice, activities and ideas for parents and families

NSPCC - Online Safety advice, guides and news. 

 

Visit our Online Safety page for more information.

Missed an update? Head over to our Online Safety Tip of the Week archive.