123456 Is Not A Password

From banking to shopping and streaming to social media, people are spending more time than ever online. This means more opportunities for hackers to carry out cyber attacks. They often do this by targeting people and businesses using email and website scams as well as malware which can let  hackers inside your system

If hackers get into your device or accounts, they could access your money, your personal information, or information about your business. 

Whether it’s your Facebook, Amazon, or Netflix account, the explosion in popularity of online apps and services means more and more of us have to remember an increasingly long list of passwords.

Unfortunately, some of us cope with this challenge by resorting to practices that leave our data, devices and money at risk, by using the same password across multiple accounts, or by creating simple passwords that could easily be guessed by hackers. 

Bad password practice is more prevalent than you might think - Britain's National Cyber Security Centre carried out analysis of passwords leaked in data breaches and found that more than 23 million users worldwide used 123456 as a password. 

Here are some top tips that will make your life easier and your online accounts more secure:

 Create Memorable Passwords:   A good way to create strong, memorable passwords is by using 3 random words you can remember. But, don’t use words that can be guessed, like your pet’s name. You can include numbers and symbols.  For example, “RedPantsTree4!”

Save Passwords In Your Browser:   Saving your password in your browser means letting your web browser (such as Chrome, Safari or Edge) remember your password for you. This can help:

• make sure you do not lose or forget your passwords
• protect you against some cyber crime, such as fake websites

It is safer than using weak passwords, or using the same password in more than one place.

Use Email Account Passwords:   If a hacker gets into your email account, they could:

• reset your other online account passwords
• access personal information you have saved about yourself or your business

Your email password should be strong and different to all your other passwords. This will make it harder to crack or guess.

Action Fraud:       NCSC:        NCSC:  

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