The FBD Blog

The recent unfortunate hacking of the popular Irish boards.ie website has prompted discussions about the passwords we use online and the fact that most people use the same password on dozens of websites.

A recent international study of social network and e-commerce sites showed that the top ten most popular passwords are incredibly easy to guess, making it very simple for others to hack into our online accounts.

The top ten most popular passwords according to the study are:

1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

From listening to conversations over the past 24 hours there are some simple lessons to follow to protect your passwords online:

1. Don’t use dictionary or slang words, people’s names, common strings of letters or numbers, or characters adjacent on keyboards as passwords
2. Use passwords that are made up of combinations of letters, numbers and other characters such as $%^&*@~
3. Ensure your passwords are at least eight characters in length
4. Don’t use the same password on more than one website
5. Remembering lots of passwords can be extremely difficult so use a password management system, which is a piece of software that encrypts all your other passwords and which is only accessible using one very strong password

This video from online security expert Graham Cluley has some good tips on how to create good and memorable passwords:

Meanwhile, we wish the guys over on boards.ie every success in getting their site back up and running.

Following Met Eireann’s weather warning this morning, it is very important that householders and drivers take additional steps to protect their assets and themselves at this time.

We are told to expect widespread frost at night, icy patches and freezing fog over the weekend and well into next week. There are a number of simple steps we can take to limit any damage or loss during this period.

Firstly, in relation to your own home, ensure you have adequate fuel to keep yourself, your family and the house warm and avoid the awful consequence of burst pipes. Remember, if you can, to check on elderly relatives and neighbours as the cold can be harder on them.

If you are leaving home for Christmas do not turn off your heating, reduce it to a minimum, e.g. 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.  A simple timer can be bought in most DIY outlets.

In freezing conditions you can leave the kitchen tap trickling (very slightly) as moving water will not freeze. Finally do not leave cables to external lights through open windows.

If you own a holiday home and perhaps you are planning to spend time there over the Christmas, the last thing you want is to arrive and find it under a few feet of water.  Make sure that either all water tanks, apparatus, pipes and heating systems are drained down or that the central heating system, where present, is switched on at regular daily intervals.  If the system is not set to do this currently you may have a neighbour who can do it for you.  Give them a call as soon as possible.

On the roads, take extra care over the next few days. Where we have frost and icy roads, only make journeys by car where it is absolutely necessary.  Drive slowly and leave plenty of room between you and any other traffic.

Use your fog lights where required and don’t forget to turn them off when the fog clears.

Prepare carefully for  your journey and put some basic provisions into your car.  Having a can of de-icer in the car can be a useful addition at this time.   A tow rope and small fireplace shovel are useful tools if you breakdown in the snow and a small bag of gravel may help give your wheels traction if they get stuck. A red triangle sign, independent flashing light and breakdown kit should also be in your boot.

On longer journeys you should consider having some basic provisions, food, hot drinks in flasks and also a travel rug in case of a breakdown in an isolated area.  Finally always have your mobile phone charged when going out in bad weather, in case you need to make a call in an emergency.

It is worth remembering that we do not face these conditions often and are not used to driving in them – the cold, ice and snow should be respected for the danger they can pose.  By taking the right precautions a white Christmas will be a far more enjoyable experience.

- Michael Whelehan

Christmas, a time for celebration and maybe a little caution, well a bit of common sense anyway. 

The Christmas holidays are fast approaching. If you are one of our (growing) family of loyal and well protected customers we would like to wish you well and hope you enjoy the coming weeks. No doubt you will be ticking tasks off your ‘Christmas to do list’ as you go and part of that will be picking up presents for loved ones. It’s all part of the anticipation of Christmas and all part of the build up. 

There are, however, those who view Christmas in an entirely different manner altogether. It is a build up alright, but a build up of consumer durables, expensive entertainment and computer equipment, jewellery, vouchers, CDs, iPods, a veritable Aladdin’s cave of treasures in the front rooms of houses all over the countryside. All these valuables are still in their boxes with their instructions and neatly wrapped ready for a quick sale, a beautiful sight located under the flashing triangular tree by way of locator beacon. 

So, that’s a bit of a dampener! …but it doesn’t need to be. Just be sensible about your home security and how you advertise your wrapped and saleable valuables. 

Right, now that I’ve got you thinking about this, lets keep the momentum going… 

How do you take the TARGET sticker off your house? 

Lets start with the basics, 

THE HOUSE: 

1. If you are going away don’t advertise your absence from the house. Cancel the papers, milk etc. Don’t update your answering machine to say you’re ‘Away for the holidays, or back on XX day.’ 
2. Lock your doors and windows, if you are running cable out to lights etc, don’t do it at the expense of security.
3. You may have people in and out of the house over the holidays, don’t leave keys under mats, how foolish would you feel if you were caught by such an old cliché.
4. Keep the Christmas presents elsewhere than under the tree until you can wait no longer. Minimise this risk.
5. When it’s all over, all the food is gone and the vino a foggy memory…don’t advertise how well you did on the presents front by piling the empty boxes of consumer electronics beside the bins. It’s like publishing a menu to thieves. Crush the boxes and bag them.

Don’t forget, that as an FBD customer,  the sum insured on contents under your home insurance policy is automatically increased by 20% for the period from 1st December to 7th January each year to cover Christmas presents.

THE CAR: 

1. If shopping in town, don’t return half way through to deposit the first load of shopping bags. That’s obvious to a thief and yes they do watch specifically for that!
2. If you’ve been shopping, for goodness sake, put your purchases in the boot!
3. Remove flyers from your cars windows before you open it, or leave them until you are out of the area. They can sometimes be a ploy get a driver to hop out of a running car.
4. When you get home, do put them away, you should try to avoid driving around with packages in the car.

The idea is not to strip the joy from Christmas, nor to diminish your faith in the ‘holidays’ or goodwill, but if the application of a little precaution or common sense secures you a happy Christmas and a thwarted thief…Result!! 

- Michael Whelehan 

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