Consider Your Password Habits This World Password Day
The Allan Labor Government is reminding Victorians to review their password habits and protect themselves from cyber threats.
Minister for Government Services Natalie Hutchins encouraged Victorians to visit the Service Victoria website or app and use the password strength tester tool to make sure they have a strong password to keep them safe.
The password tester also gives advice on how to improve a password and identifies if it’s been involved in a data breach.
Research has found 60 per cent of Victorians are still using weak passwords. A cybercriminal can hack a weak password in minutes, but hacking a strong password could take centuries and because hackers and criminals can guess or steal passwords, they’re often not secure enough by themselves.
That’s why the Labor Government advises Victorians to activate multi-factor authentication (MFA) on their devices to better protect themselves, their finances and their personal data from scammers and cybercriminals.
This makes it harder for someone to get into your accounts even if they do steal your passwords.
Victorians lost more than $42 million to cyber scams last year with research showing only one in three Victorians used MFA to protect their online accounts.
Strong and secure passwords can protect important personal information such as bank details, online records, private documents, online communications, social media accounts, and other information shared online.
Victorians are encouraged to update their password to a passphrase, which is long and contains four or more random words.
Other ways to build a strong and safe password include making it unpredictable without any sequences or personal information, and making it unique by using different passwords for different accounts.
Victorians can store their passwords securely in a password manager application to help keep track of their different passwords for each account.
To add an extra layer of protection, use multi-factor authentication to make it much harder for anyone else to gain access to accounts, even if they know the password.
As stated by Minister for Government Services Natalie Hutchins
“Just this week we have seen reports that customers of banks across Australia have had their passwords stolen. It’s crucial that Victorians use this day as a reminder to keep cyber safe.”
“Whenever you get a spare ten minutes today, all Victorians should visit the Services Victoria website or app and use our password strength tester tool and keep their passwords updates regularly.”
https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-05/250501-Consider-Your-Password-Habits-This-World-Password-Day.pdf