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Securing Your Passwords

Passwords are used by computer systems and websites to verify who you are and authenticate you before we grant access to your accounts.

When you login to our secure websites, such as Online Banking, you need a password to gain access to our services and resources. If someone else knows or guesses your password, they can access those same resources and also your account. That's why it's crucial for you to choose unique passwords, carefully safeguard them and change them from time-to-time.

How To Snoop-Proof Your Password

What to Do

  • Always choose unique passwords that include a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. Choose ones that are hard to guess, but are easy for you to remember.

  • Whenever possible, choose passwords that are a minimum of eight characters.

  • Create a brand new password for every application or Internet service that you subscribe to or use.

  • Disable the "auto complete" function of your login IDs or passwords to prevent others using your computer from having instant access.

  • Change each password regularly as well as any time you might suspect it has been guessed or seen by someone else.

What to Avoid:

  • Don't choose obvious passwords such as family or pet names, birthdays, street names and telephone numbers that might be easy for others to figure out or that can be found in your purse, wallet, laptop bag or briefcase.

  • Avoid using passwords that are real words.

  • Don't use the same password for multiple applications or Internet services.

How to Choose an Unique Password

Securing your password is as easy as humming your favourite tune. Here's one idea for creating an easy-to-remember and secure password:

Step 1: Think of a favourite song, and use the first letter in each word. For instance, The Beatles " I've Got to Get You into My Life"," could be translated into IGTGYIML

Step 2: Replace one or two letters of your song acronym with a number and add a special character or two. "IGTGYIML" becomes a stronger (and longer) password as !G2GYI2ML.