Stay Secure
Staying Secure Online
Follow our simple guide to ensure you and your personal information remains safe and secure online.
When browsing or shopping online it's important that you keep your personal information and payment information safe and secure at all times. Cyber criminals often target online users that have simple passwords, or use the same password for many accounts. In order to ensure your personal information is safe, and your internet experience a pleasant and secure one, we recommend you follow the guidelines detailed below.
Complex Passwords
Guidance
When creating passwords for applications or websites, try and ensure your password consists of the following:
- A minimum of 8 characters
- Contains at least 1 number
- Contains at least 1 special character
- Contains a mix of both upper and lower case characters
An example of a strong password could be banana2Tree%!9.
Why?
A strong password with a mixture of characters makes it much harder for cyber criminals to guess your password.
Unique Passwords
Guidance
Always try and ensure that you use a unique password for every application or website, and don't share passwords between them. It's especially important that your e-mail account uses a unique password, as this ensures cyber criminals cannot access any accounts linked to your e-mail address.
The use of a free password manager application can assist in managing different accounts and unique passwords, and ultimately keep each of your online accounts secure.
Why?
Having unique passwords means that if one of your account passwords is discovered, then all your other accounts will remain safe.
Two Factor Authentication
Guidance
Where available, always try to enable and use two factor authentication on applications or websites. This can help protect against cyber criminals accessing or making changes to any of your online accounts.
Often applications and websites will notify you and require approval for anyone attempting to access or make changes to your account. **Iceland does not yet offer two factor authentication, but hopes to provide this facility to our customers soon.
Why?
Using two factor authentication means that cyber criminals not only need your password, but also your mobile phone or e-mail account.
Update Your Software
Guidance
Software companies often release updates and security fixes in order to resolve bugs that could be exploited by cyber-criminals.
It’s important to check for updates often and when available, ensure your applications are up-to-date and any security fixes available for your operating system are applied. If you're unsure, it's best to contact the manufacturer of your computer for further information.
Why?
This ensures your applications and operating system don’t have bugs that can be exploited by cyber-criminals.
Visit the National Cyber Security Centre website for further guidance on how to stay safe online