How three little words could make a big difference to your online security

We all know how frustrating it can be when we set up a new online account; having to create – and remember – a new password.

While the temptation is to use the same password on multiple accounts, in reality this will increase the chances of being hacked.

And the simple but highly effective way of doing this is by combining three random words!

Weak passwords can be cracked in seconds. The longer and more unusual your password is, the harder it is for a cyber-criminal to crack.

It is much better to concoct passwords for online accounts that are made up of three random words as opposed to creating complex variations of letters, numbers and symbols, government experts have said.

Advice from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is to make your password difficult to crack is by combining three random words to create a password (for example applefishchair).

Or you could use an online password manager app, which can create strong passwords for you (and remember them).

But if you want to write your password down, that’s also OK, provided you keep it somewhere safe.

Top tips on creating passwords:

• Avoid the most common passwords that criminals can easily guess (like ‘password’ or a succession of numbers). You should also avoid creating passwords from significant dates (like your birthday), or from your favourite sports team, or by using family and pet names. Most of these details can be found within your social media profile.

• If you’re thinking of changing certain characters in your password (so swapping the letter ‘o' with a zero, for example), you should know that cyber criminals know these tricks as well. So, your password won’t be significantly stronger, but it may be harder for you to remember.

• Passwords made from multiple words will generally be longer than passwords made from a single word. Length is a common (and recommended) requirement for passwords and many of us try and lengthen the password by adding a symbol at the end of it. Again, these can be predictable but by combining words – your passphrase should be long enough.

• Stereotypically, the password is a single dictionary word or name, with predictable character replacements. By recommending multiple words the NCSC says it immediately challenges that perception and encourages a range of passwords that have not previously been considered – making them not only novel and effective, but unique to the user.

For a short visual guidance video on how to create a strong password, see https://vimeo.com/221408897