3.3 What you need to know about passwords

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A man with an open laptop and his hands on the keys. The screen displays empty ‘User name’ and ‘Password’ bars.

Millions of people use online services every day and it is important that systems are secure so that users can’t access one another’s information. To do this, we need a way of uniquely identifying each user so that no other users can access their account.

To verify your identity, you will be asked to create passwords and passcodes. Just as you need to remember your banking personal identifier number (PIN) when using a debit or credit card, you also need to remember your passcode and password when logging into your online accounts and services.

A passcode is a PIN containing up to six digits. A password is meant to be longer and include a combination of letters, numbers and symbols.

Never give out passwords or passcodes over the phone or via email. No trusted organisation will ever ask you for your password this way.