Cyberattacks and data breaches have become a fact of everyday life – think Optus, Medibank and a growing array of companies we trust with our most sensitive information – yet the vast majority of Australians still don’t practise basic cyber hygiene.

Experts say that 70 per cent of passwords used by Australians can be cracked in less than a second, with “123456”, “admin”, “password” and “qwerty123” among the nation’s most used passwords.

Many users rely on the same password for every website they log into.Credit: Tribune

While weak passwords are a problem, even worse is that many users rely on the same password for every website they log into, meaning that in the event of a data breach, every login with the same password will be vulnerable.

Recent research from Telstra found that 63 per cent of Australians never change their banking passwords; 1.5 million Australians say they keep their passwords somewhere easy to find, like on the fridge; and 1.2 million keep them in their wallet or purse.

In an era where everything is interconnected, it’s never been more important to keep your password – and therefore your most important information and data – safe. Here are some tips.

Stick with long, complex passwords that involve plenty of numbers, a mix of upper and lowercase letters, and avoid personal data such as your birthday. Good passwords typically have at least 12 characters, have no “dictionary” words (those are easier for hackers to crack), and include varied, non-sequential numbers. They’re harder to remember, but that’s entirely the point – they’re also much harder for a hacker to bypass.

QOSHE - Protecting passwords: The best ways to keep your data safe - David Swan
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Protecting passwords: The best ways to keep your data safe

25 5
02.01.2024

Cyberattacks and data breaches have become a fact of everyday life – think Optus, Medibank and a growing array of companies we trust with our most sensitive information – yet the vast majority of Australians still don’t practise basic cyber hygiene.

Experts say that 70 per cent of passwords used by Australians can be cracked in less than a second, with “123456”, “admin”, “password” and........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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