Don’t reveal your passwords to anyone else –
family, friends, co-workers or IT staff.
Be aware of who’s watching when you’re entering
a password.
Your passwords are used to uniquely identify
you, so anyone who’s able to use them can act as if they were you.
Remember: You’re accountable for all activity
associated with your University account, including when someone else is using
it.
Keep one step ahead!
Change a password immediately if you suspect
that it has been revealed to or discovered by another person.
Report any concerns about your University
password security to the IS Service Desk, so that they can take action if
necessary to protect your account.
Make use of data breach notification services
like HIBP,
which notify you when (not if!) your details appear in data breaches.
If you’re unsure about the best way to protect
your passwords, ask the IS Service Desk for advice.
Keep it unique!
Cyber criminals know that people often reuse
email addresses and passwords across multiple websites and online services.
If a cyber criminal discovers your email address
and password for one particular service, they’ll try to login to other services
using those same account details.
Always use unique passwords for your important accounts,
such as your University account, your personal email and online banking.
Consider using a Password Manager to generate
and store unique passwords for all of your websites and online services.
Keep them guessing!
Your password should be memorable, but hard for
someone else to guess – whether or not they know anything about you.
Avoid using single dictionary words, predictable
sequences, patterns of keys on the keyboard or memorable names, dates or
locations.
If you need to write a password down, make sure
that you don’t leave it in a place where someone else can find it.
Pick a password which hasn’t previously appeared
in a data breach, by checking it with a service like Pwned Passwords.
Keep it modern!
Over time, computers get faster at guessing
passwords – so the rules that define “good” passwords have to change over time
too.
From time to time, we’ll have to ask you to
update your passwords to keep them safe.
Longer passwords are generally stronger
passwords.
Websites and online services are increasingly
making Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) available to users – you should make
use of this wherever it’s available.
