Safer Internet Day 2016 was on Tuesday, 9 February and this year’s theme was “Play your part for a better Internet”. As part of this, the College has been running a series of events over the week, concluding on Friday, 12 February with #FirewallFriday.
#FirewallFriday
During Safer Internet Week, students and staff will be educated on what makes a secure password and will be encouraged to start thinking of their own. The week will culminate on Friday, 12 February (Week 6) with #FirewallFriday where students and staff will be required to change their College passwords, using new complex password requirements.
Password Guidance
We have issued the following guidance to help everyone to think of a secure password:
- Use a minimum of 8 characters
- Include both upper and lower case characters
- Add special characters such as ‘&’
- Mix in some numbers
You can use a service like The Password Meter to see how secure your password is.
If you’re struggling to think about how to make your password secure but memorable, why not try this out:
- Think of a phrase that means something to you – My Favourite Football Team Is Wolves
- Use the first letters of each word – MFFTIW
- Change some to lower case – MffTiW
- Add some numbers – MffTiW12
- Then add some special characters – MffT!W-12
If you have accounts on multiple websites, you should have different passwords for each one. To make them more memorable, you could affix your password with a website code:
- iCloud – iCld:MffT!W-12
- Google – Ggl:MffT!W-12
- Twitter – MffT!W-12:Twtr
- Facebook – MffT!W-12:Fb
Remember, you can use a service like The Password Meter to see how secure your password is.
Useful Resources
Are you concerned about how private your social media profiles are? Are you unsure of how to make them more secure?
The College has produced some resources you may find useful. They provide advice on how you can make your social media profiles more secure.
#FirewallFriday forms part of the College’s Online Safety initiative. For more information on Online Safety at the College, visit our Online Safety page.