Keeping your website secure
Keeping your website secure is fundamental and a secure password is the first defence barrier. Passwords and PINs are used to identify who you are. Sometimes they are the only defence to protect your information against unauthorised access.
Choosing a Password
The Australian Government’s online initiate, Stay Smart Online recommends the following tips to choosing a strong password.
Strong passwords are difficult to guess and should be:
- greater than 10 characters long
- a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and alpha numeric characters.
Think of a pass phrase and then change some of the characters to make it a strong password. For example:
- June School Holidays can be modified to: 7un3Schoo1Ho!idays
- I like Australian red wine can be modified to:Ilike0zzieR3dwine
- Be good, be wise can be modified to: B3g00db3wi5e$
- Do not use the same password for multiple services/websites.
- Do not share your passwords with anyone.
- Do not provide your password in response to a phone call or email, regardless of how legitimate it might seem.
- Do not provide your password to a website you have accessed by following a link in an email – it may be a phishing trap..
- Be cautious about using password protected services via a public computer, or over a public wi-fihotspot.
- Change your passwords regularly, at least every three to twelve months. If you think your passwordmay have been compromised, change it immediately and check for any unauthorised activity. If the same compromised password has been used on another site, create a new password for this as well.
Use a Password Manager
You can install a Password Manager on your PC, smartphone or tablet. It will generate and remember super secure passwords for you and some will sync between your devices. The downside is that if thepassword manager is breached, all your information is accessible.
