Today (Thursday May 4th) is world password day and provides a timely reminder for us all to evaluate our passwords. I did write an article in December about passwords and you can find it here on our website if you would like a reminder.
But this time I would just like you to think about how long it would take for a criminal to crack your password. The following table has just been shared across the internet, the news, universities, and by thousands of organisations worldwide to give you an idea about password strength.
There are a lot of caveats in the table here, but it should give you some idea of how long it would probably take to brute force crack a password of a certain length and complexity. Now this assumes that a hacker has your password, most likely from a data breach, as any live system worth cracking would reject any brute force attempt. But, once a hacker has your password, they will try your email address / password combination on many sites, so a great reason not to use the same password on multiple sites.
So, if one of your passwords that protects something important, particularly your email, can be cracked instantly, perhaps it’s time to act.
- Create a strong password, maybe in the orange zone.
- Use your new password on your email account, but do not use it for any other account.
- Set up Two Factor Authentication if you haven’t already done so.
If you would like advice on changing your passwords, then you can always pop into the Spire Cafe. We are open as normal every Thursday from 10:00am – 1:00pm, so why not pop along and have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake.
The Spire Computer Help Team.
Linda, Brian, Kieth, Liam & Mark
Remember the A,B,C – Assume nothing , Believe nobody and Check everything
Take 5 to Stop Fraud – STOP | CHALLENGE | PROTECT
There are a number of ways you can report a scam:
· Forwarding suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk
· Forward suspicious texts to Ofcom on 7726
· Contact Action Fraud by visiting actionfraud.police.uk or calling 0300 123 2040
· Contact Crimestoppers by visiting crimestoppers-uk.org
If you believe that you have become a victim of an online scam and would like some help, contact Victim Support by visiting victimsupport.org.uk
———————————————-
Getsafeonline.org has lots of advice about online safety at
https://www.getsafeonline.org
They also have a handy tool to check out whether a website is likely to be legitimate or fraudulent, at https://www.getsafeonline.org/checkawebsite/
———————————————-
If you would like to receive more information about scams into your email box, you can sign up to the National Action Fraud Alert scheme run by the City of London Police.
https://www.actionfraudalert.co.uk/
Or, you can sign up for Which? Scam Alerts …
https://act.which.co.uk/page/103781/data/1
Or sign up to West Sussex County Staying Safe Online E-newsletter …
https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/fire-emergencies-and-crime/crime-prevention/staying-safe-online/
Article by Liam Dasey. Liam is one of our volunteer Digital Champions, but he is also a volunteer Digital Ambassador for West Sussex County Council and Get Safe Online, helping raise awareness about online safety in the community.
If you would like to unsubscribe from receiving this type of email from us in the future, send us an email and we will remove you from the mailing list immediately.
