Police urge people to be a bit more random

Det Insp Stephen Leach and his team are backing a new initiative aimed at getting people to use random memorable words to help tackle cybercrime.

Research conducted on behalf of the National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, has revealed that only 35 per cent of people in Yorkshire are following the latest Government password advice.

The research also showed that 32 per cent of people surveyed shared their passwords with others.

The Office for National Statistics has estimated that two million cybercrime offences were committed last year.

Det Insp Leach, of South Yorkshire Police, said: “The easiest way to protect yourself from becoming a victim of cybercrime is to set a password that is random and difficult to crack, but not that difficult that you have to write it down and compromise its security.

“Your most important accounts are your email, social media and online banking accounts, so it’s important to use strong, separate passwords for each of these.

“It doesn’t matter what inspires people — it might be a night at the cinema, a sporting contest or favourite foods. The important element is making passwords random, using a different one for each site and never sharing your passwords.”

He added: “Traditionally, the ultimate strong password was considered to be long with a multitude of symbols, numbers and capital letters. Although this makes for quite secure passwords, they’re harder to remember.

“People tend to choose weak passwords instead, or compromise the less memorable passwords by writing them down. Strong memorable passwords with three random words should prove easier to remember.”

To find out more, visit cyberaware.go.uk/passwords.