DISCOVER CONFIDENT DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

This week is Cyber Smart Week. To help you get Cyber Smart and to support you in becoming a confident digital citizen we have a series of tips and tricks we wanted to share.  First tip: passwords

 

PASSWORDS ARE VIRTUAL KEYS THAT UNLOCK ACCESS TO YOUR DIGITAL LIFE

 

Protected behind those digital keys are family photos, email and text messages, banking information, shopping details and more. Your email account is especially important to protect since it is the hub around which your online identity revolves. Whenever you sign up to online shopping, a social media service or a bank account, you are required to prove your existence via your email. If someone has access to your email account, they have intimate access to your life.

With the amount of online services we now use, trying to remember all the different corresponding passwords becomes rather overwhelming. So, to make it easier for us to remember them we often end up reusing the same password.  The problem with this is, if one service gets compromised (for example, Yahoo) then the person who now has your login details could use them to try to access other services such as your banking, shopping or social media accounts.

So, what can you do to help protect your digital life? One of the best things is to use a good password.  A good password is referred to as ‘strong’.  It should be made up of at least 8 characters (numbers, letters and symbols) and unique for different accounts. Netsafe has a helpful guide on how to choose a good password and they also provide examples of what to avoid using (the word ‘Password’ is one of the most commonly used – and easily guessed – passwords).

Now you have a unique, strong password for every account, where do you store them?  Writing them on scraps of paper or in the back of a diary is not a secure solution.  Instead, try using a Password Manager.  These are apps that can securely store important information and even generate strong passwords for you. There are a variety of options to choose from, but apps like LastPass or, my personal favourite, 1Password are great options.  They allow you to safely store passwords on your smartphone, tablet or computer so you can always access them whenever you need them.

 

Remember, passwords are like a toothbrush – don’t share them, change them regularly and use a good one!

 

With this in mind, you are well on your way to being ‘cyber smart’ and a confident and capable digital citizen.

 

– Guest Blogger, Lyn Granshaw – Education Technology Specialist.

 

Stayed tuned for more tips & tricks from AKA throughout Cyber Smart Week

November 27 through December 1