Passwords
Lots of young people like you use the internet and have different devices to do this. Many devices have the option to protect access using a password. A password is a series of characters that are used to stop other people having access to either your devices or to your online accounts.
As you will need a password to do many things online, it is tempting to make it simple so it is easy for you to remember. Having a simple password is risky as someone else might be able to guess it. A strong password does not have to be hard to remember, it just needs to be hard to guess!
Using the first letter from words in a sentence can be a clever way to make a password that is hard for someone else to guess.
For example: “The best football team is Liverpool!” becomes the password
And “My favourite show is the Simpsons! becomes the password
You can see how an easy sentence to remember can become a password that is difficult to guess! To make your password even stronger you could add some numbers or different punctuation. Once you have created a strong password, it is important not to tell anyone what it is.
Keep your password private.
Also, remember to change your password often for added security.
Security
When connecting to the internet, it is important to protect your device from malware. Malware is malicious software which can damage your device or take control of its operation to access private information. To protect your device, make sure that you have updated antivirus software to help stop virus attacks and also check that your firewall is running.
As well as protecting your device with software and your firewall, taking care if you download files can help. If you are downloading files, use trusted websites and only download if you really need to. When downloading music you should use paid sites like ITunes or Napster or use a retailers website like HMV.
Also, if you have an email account you could be sent fake emails. Fake emails could contain viruses that can damage your device or messages that promise gifts or prizes that are not real. Phishing is a way people try to get you to give away your personal information. By promising gifts or prizes they hope that you will tell them your name, address or other personal information that they can then use illegally. Do not open emails from people you do not know and do not give out personal information.
If you buy anything from the internet you may need to give personal information like your real name and address or bank details. It is important to check that the browser shows a padlock symbol or https:// at the beginning of the web address. This shows that the site is secure, if not, do not give personal details to the website and buy from somewhere that does.
Keywords
Click below to hear information on keywords
Password
Malware
Antivirus software
Firewall
Phishing