Change default passwords on devices

Devices that connect you to the internet all come with default passwords. One of the first tasks in protecting your network and family from online threats shoudl be setting these devices up with a strong password.

Strong passwords make it harder for your passwords to be guessed.  There are many ways to do this, ranging from a simple lucky guess, to a fully automated computerised word attack.

Some simple tips are to:

1. use words that do not relate to your family such as names, addresses, and suburbs
2. combine UPPER and lower case letters in a PasSwoRd
3. Include numbers in words – not just adding a 1234 at the end, some letters can substitute for letters:
   • (1) can be an (i), or an (l)
   • (3) can be an (E)
   • (5) can be an (s)
4. punctuation marks are also useful sybols such as and underscore (_) , or a hyphen (-)

All of these tips can create an incredible strong password, however the greatest influence on strength is length.  Moving from a 6 to an 8 character password will almost half the chance of someone guessing your password.

Advertisements