Protect your accounts
Use a unique password for each account, especially your email. A password manager can help you create and store passwords. Enable multi-factor authentication where it is offered and keep recovery codes somewhere secure. See NCSC Cyber Aware for current advice.
Pause before you click
Unexpected links, attachments and requests for information deserve a second look. A familiar logo or sender name does not prove a message is genuine. Open the organisation’s official app or website yourself rather than follow a link you were not expecting.
Choose what you share
Review social-media visibility, location sharing and app permissions. Give an app only the access it needs for the feature you want. Be careful about sharing documents, photographs or details that reveal your address, routines or account information.
Look after devices and connections
Install software updates and use a screen lock. Avoid sensitive tasks over an unfamiliar connection when you cannot establish that it is trustworthy. A padlock on a website shows an encrypted connection, not that the organisation itself is honest.
Be ready to recover
Keep your account recovery email and phone number current. Save important documents and photographs with a backup you can access. If an account behaves unexpectedly, use the provider’s official recovery process.
Need urgent help?
If money may have been stolen, contact your bank immediately through a trusted number or its official app. For a compromised account, contact the service provider. Report suspected crime through the appropriate police or fraud-reporting service. If someone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services. Our educational guidance is not an emergency, financial or law-enforcement service.
A little guidance can make a big difference.
Take the next step at your own pace. Our guides are a good place to start.