How safe is your information? Only as safe as your password. Without a strong password you’re vulnerable to others accessing your online information. One way to prevent this is by creating a strong password to protect yourself from possible hackers. Making sure that your password is protected is an important part of online activity. The Australian Government has even launched a Change Your Password Day in order to raise awareness about staying safe online.
 
There are many things you can do to create a safe password. The perfect password needs to be long (8 characters or more is recommended). The more characters you use, the stronger your password will be. It should also have a variety of characters. The combining of letters, numbers and symbols makes the password more complex and therefore harder to guess. Your password should incorporate both length and different types of symbols.

It is also very important not to make typical mistakes such as the use of sequences or repeated characters. Using a pattern will make it more likely that another person can predict it. Also, using any part of your name, birthday, social security number, or similar information for your loved ones is a bad password choice. You should also use different passwords for different systems – if one password and online system is compromised, then all of your other information that’s protected by that password could be compromised as well.

To avoid the possibility of security breaches it is important not to reveal your password to others. This includes providing your password through e-mail – especially if you receive an e-mail from a person or organization, asking you for your password.. Many of those requests are scams to gain access to your personal information. You should also be wary of typing passwords on computers that you do not control or own because others may be able to extract your password from that computer after you use them. Lastly, change your passwords regularly to reduce the likelihood of someone accessing your personal information. Happy Change Your Password Day!