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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Shane Hickey

Password1: how scammers exploit variations of your logins

A close up of the word password in red amid ones and zeros in green on an old fashions computer screen
The criminals use scripts to go through variations of the passwords in an attempt to access other accounts. This can happen on an industrial scale. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

The first you know about it is when you find out someone has accessed one of your accounts. You’ve been careful with your details so you can’t work out what has gone wrong, but you have made one mistake – recycling part of your password.

Reusing the same word in a password – even if it is altered to include numbers or symbols – gives criminals a way in to your accounts.

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