On Wednesday July 8, Wrexham Council’s reporting and payments website for residents – MyAccount – will receive a security update.
The homepage of MyAccount will also change meaning that, when you’re logged in, you’ll be able to see your current and next bin collection.
As part of the security update, we are enforcing an upgraded password policy, with stronger security requirements as recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC).
To facilitate this change, a one-time password change will be required, and when activated you’ll be prompted to change your password for MyAccount. This may seem inconvenient, but you’ll only have to do it once and it will ensure a significant security improvement.
How to create a strong password
Combining three random words is a good way to create a password, and is a technique recommended by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). Here’s an example (it’s only an example…please don’t use it)…
You could combine the three words ‘apple’, ‘house’ and ‘fridge’ to create the password ‘Applehousefridge’.
To make it even stronger, you could add symbols and numbers between the words…for example ‘Apple%house7fridge’.
Avoid creating passwords from details about your life that can be easily found online, including social media profiles (birthdays, favourite football teams, your pet dog’s name etc) .
Using three random words should help you create a password that’s much harder for hackers and criminals to guess, but easy enough to remember.
If your existing password already meets these standards, you can re-use it when prompted to change your password.
Councillor Joh Pritchard, Lead Member for Corporate and Customer Services, said: “We regularly read about online security issues, so I am pleased to see this update to the council’s payment and reporting software.
“I would urge all residents with an account to log on and change their password to meet the new requirements – this one-off, simple action means that your information will be more secure.”
If you have any questions, you can contact the MyAccount support team.
