ChickSpeak

Get Safe Online is a UK government-backed campaign that aims to encourage online safety. According to a recent article by the team at Shiny Shiny, some 2.7 million Facebook users are still revealing information (date of birth, contact details) that is a gift to even the less professional and more opportunist fraudsters. So as well as reminding us that we don’t want tickets to Australia on our Visa bills they’re taking the opportunity to remind us all that crappy passwords aren’t doing us any favors either.

Shiny Shiny writer Alex Roumbus goes on to say, “So even though this might be, in the words of my friend Andrew, teaching my grandchildren to suck lemon sherbet, here are five tips for creating a virtually hackproof password. If it’s not relevant to you, pass it on to someone to whom it might be. See? We do cut out and keep; don’t say we never give you nothin’.”

1. Your cat’s name is not unique. Leave it alone. Ditto your name, your birthday, your mum’s maiden name or your birthday.

2. Don’t use a dictionary word. They can be cracked with clever - and even not-so-clever - password hacking programs.

3. That doesn’t mean using “Qwerty”, one of the most popular passwords on the block. Consecutive letters are generally a no-no as they’re easily guessed.

4. Use a combination of upper and lower case, and letters and numbers. If non-alphanumeric symbols are permitted, throw a few of those in. Make it as nonsensical as possible, even to you. And if you do need to write it down, try not to do it on a piece of paper entitled “Internet Banking Passwords”…

For the full story, click here.