Clare O'Neil’s Post

If multi factor authentication is so critical (which it is), then why isn't it even an option on many public facing government systems? The Immigration portal for example?

Practically speaking - How does anyone remember more than one passphrase without reusing it across multiple accounts?

Good to see someone front and centre in the public space being aware that you have power to spread simple cyber hygiene messages a long way. Most people will still be "what's a password manager", and for now it's probably the best thing to use IF you know how to keep it safe and secure. One tip... if you are going to have a password you use everywhere, because that is all you can cope with, then at least do one small thing... set your password up with an added few letters at the front or the back uniqe to that service so that when it leaks you know where it came from. i.e. you have one password for all your video streaming services? fair enough... but insteady of it being "HairyCabbagesAreOval" Netflix password: "NETFHairyCabbagesAreOval" Spotify password: "HairyCabbagesAreOvalSpotify" Paramout plus password: "PaRaMouNHairyCabbagesAreOval" Kayo Password: "HairyCabbagesAreKayOval" This will help you remember. and use haveibeenpwned / googleOne security or other way of monitoring for leaks (maybe just reading the news).., you'll known which circus of clowns lost your logins. Oh, I'm not recommending you reuse passwords...Sit yourself down and get them changed one weekend, you'll be glad you did.

Unfortunately my bank fails on 1 & 2. They use a 4 digit numeric PIN and no MFA for their online banking. Their response to my complaint - “You can write to ACFA”. One year after APRA asked regulated entities to ‘do more’ to implement MFA, we have a bank with no answer. I hope the media looks harder at our banks. I’m looking for a new bank. Please DM me for details. Australian Financial Complaints Authority, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

Thanks Clare - good reminders on basic cyber hygene for everyone in Australia. Michelle M. Given the recent 2.9 Billion data trove stolen from National Public Data (a small information broker for id verification) based in Florida affecting US/ Canada/UK millions of citizens - do we need to review such companies in Australia and their cybersecurity of ID verification providers and their brokers? Its an area wee have not looked at in Aus. Strong regulation needs to be imposed on these companies as they are now a target. Hackers look at all areas in and outside the country to find exploits and weaknesses - I wonder if all businesses need to be required to have a basic cybersecurity standard by law - since its impossible to tooth pick each sector - might need to cover the whole business world in australia and work with other countries to regulate large multinational data brokers? Clare O'Neil

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The complexity of a passphrase makes it significantly harder to crack, as it combines length with unpredictability. While a single word or phrase might be easier to remember, a complex passphrase offers much stronger security. Remember, complexity isn’t just about special characters; it’s about creating a sequence that is hard to guess and easy for users to remember.

Maybe it would be useful to understand how to crack a password in order to better understand how to pick a strong password. There are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstanding out there. Check https://www.linkedin.com/posts/christophe-doche-b49408120_passwords-cybersecurity-awareness-activity-7207416265689210880-GRx0 if you want to know more. It is pretty clear that picking four random words for your password is not the best tip you can get.

I’m glad we have a minister who is helping educate the masses on best practices controls. Cyber security is a journey and Australia is maturing.

Easy way to make and remember a pass phrase is to think of a nursery rhyme, song lyrics, a quote or a movie quote and use that. Along with some numbers and characters that you are familiar with. For example: "Video killed the radio star". Vkt79!RadioS Change it regularly. If you do forget it, see it as an opportunity to make a new one. Eventually you won't forget them.