Why we need safe passwords
Why we need safe passwords
What's coming up?
Passwords are very important when it comes to staying safer online. Like the keys to your house, passwords help keep you and your valuable information secure. You shouldn't share them with anyone.
In this activity, you will learn about how your passwords might be lost or stolen, and what you can do to prevent this from happening.
Start activityWhat can happen if your password is stolen?
If somebody else gets hold of your password, they can use that password to access personal accounts on the websites that you've visited.
For example, someone with your password might be able to access your email account.
What else might they do?
They might log into your social media accounts and make posts in your name. Or they may log into a shopping site with your account and buy goods.
How might somebody get hold of your password?
There are computer programs that can attempt to guess your password by trying lot of passwords, very quickly. They can even try every word in the dictionary, common passwords and use personal information such as birth dates to try and guess a password.
That's why we need passwords that can't be guessed. If you take away the easy guesses, your accounts will be better protected.
Congratulations!
You've completed the Why we need safe passwords activity.
Understanding why someone might want your passwords and how they can guess them is important. It will make it much easier for you to understand how you can make a good password, one that can't be guessed.
In the next activity, Common password mistakes, we'll look at some of the common errors people make when creating passwords.