How Safe Are Your Passwords?

As we are introducing our students to all these new Web 2.0 tools to support their learning, many of these tools require the user to create a free account. You are required to enter your name, your email address and a password.


We all do it. You can't avoid it.


But what password do you use? Do you use the same password for your email account, your online banking and eBay?


Well, you shouldn't. We have all heard about networks being hacked and personal information being compromised. If one of your passwords were compromised, how many accounts would be vulnerable?


I recently read an article about creating effective passwords and was shocked to discover what the most common password was.


Can you guess?


It is 'password'. Followed closely by '12345678',  'qwerty', and 'abc123'. (see the full list here).


Was your password on this list?



C'mon people. Let's make it a bit more challenging for the hackers.


Here are a few tips you should think about when creating secure passwords. And I implore you to have a 10 min discussion with your students about creating more secure passwords.


1. Have a tiered system of passwords.
A Level 1 password should only be used for you online banking and and any sites that hold personal financial data about you i.e. social insurance number and employee information. It should contain letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers and symbols.


A Level 2 password can be used for things such as your email accounts, eBay, the library, or Google.


A Level 3 password can be used for all the random sites that require you to set up an account.


2. Don't use passwords that can easily be linked to you such as your birthday, your phone number or your pet's name. Need help creating new passwords? Check out this site:





3. Change your Level 1 and Level 2 passwords on a regular basis. The new passwords don't have to be completely different. Just rotate through a series of numbers at the end of the password. For example: September's password is CupCake167; October's password is CupCake462


4. Use a combination of different character classes. For example: textbook25 can easily be changed to TexTBook25.


5. Use more than one word. Passwords like timbercalculator  are more effective than one word passwords.


6. Separate your words with numbers and symbols. For example: Kitty!Dog~ is a good combination of upper case, lower case, symbols and words.


Now I will ask you one last question. 


When is the last time your changed your password on the school computers? for the BWW?






Yeah, I thought so.


To Change Your Password on a School Computer:
1. Login
2. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE all at the same time.
3. Select CHANGE PASSWORD.


To Change Your Password for the BWW and your Board Email:
1. Go to bww.yrdsb.ca
2. Enter your current username and password. Before you hit enter, click CHANGE PASSWORD and then follow the prompts.


Your password for the school network and the BWW do not have to be the same.


Good luck my friends!