Password Security: what’s the big deal?

Successful Online Learning means protecting your Password! 

Keeping your password strong and safe is one of the ways you ensure the Authenticity of your work.

Authenticity is a critical element of proving your identity in online learning, and ensures your work can be proven to be your own.

Strong passwords (and protecting them) rely on good security practices.

How do I keep my information safe?

The first line of defence is a strong password.

The greatest weakness, even with a strong password is "the people effect". Meaning, the stronger and more complex the system requires the password to be - the more likely people are to write it down!

The next is using passwords that can be guessed easily – or cracked using an automated script.  (Ever used your pet’s name for your password?).

What makes a password secure?

Complex passwords are harder and more time consuming to crack.

Using word sentence passwords is a good idea, such as MyLittlePonyIsPink. The more words used, the longer it will take to hack.

Better still, create a set of seemingly random characters, symbols and letters. To make these easier to remember,  use a memorable phrase. For example, “MYHis@N021” can be remembered with the phrase “my yellow house is at number 21”.

Word sentence or random, these types of passwords help prevent automatic hacking scripts from working effectively. They take a lot longer to crack, which means it’s more likely the hacker will move on. 

Password Manager

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) encourages the use of a password manager to generate and to store all passwords.

“With a password manager, you only need to remember one strong master password/ passphrase and the password manager takes care of the rest.”

ASIC encourages care when choosing a password manager, such as checking it has a good reputation, strong security and is maintained regularly.

When using a Password Manager, it makes sense that your master password is your strongest.