Why do we need passwords and why are they so important?
Passwords are one of the most common ways used to authenticate 
Use strong passwords
Weak passwords can be hacked in seconds. The longer and more unusual your password is, the stronger it becomes and the harder it is to hack. The best approach is to to make your password long and difficult to hack by using a sequence of three random words you'll remember. You can make it even stronger by including special characters, numbers and capital letters.
NICS password health
As part of the recent review the security of ITAssist services, DSS Cyber Security carried out an assessment of the strength of NICS passwords held on the NIGOV domain. The analysis found:
Of the total of 20,637 NICS passwords examined, 54% were obtained within 1 minute, with a further 29% being obtained within 24 hours.
It is evident that current passwords in use within the NIGOV domain (and likely across other similar areas) are weak, tend to fall into predictable patterns and are very vulnerable to password attacks.
In order to address this weakness, the NICS Information Governance Board have approved the enforcement of a minimum password length of 12 characters and the automatic prevention of selecting known compromised passwords. This password change will be rolled out across the NICS in the coming months and further communication will issue in due course.
Personal accounts
The NI Cyber Security Centre has advice on passwords for your personal accounts.
Resources
For further reliable information, guidance and support on passwords, please use the trusted resources listed below.