Isle of Man Government Crest Online Services Isle of Man Government

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Password | Email Address | Security Answer | Security & Memorable Answers | Terms and Conditions

Password

Your password is one of the keys you use to access your online government account. If criminals or other malicious users steal this information, they can access your personal information that some of the online services hold (e.g. Income Tax return data), or pose as you in online transactions. In many cases you would not notice these attacks until it was too late.

For this reason we ask you to create a Strong Password.

What makes a strong password

To an attacker, a strong password should appear to be a random string of characters. The following criteria can help your passwords do so:

  • Make it lengthy. Each character that you add to your password increases the protection that it provides many times over. Your passwords should be 9 or more characters in length; 14 characters or longer is ideal.
  • Combine letters, numbers, and symbols. The greater variety of characters that you have in your password, the harder it is to guess.
  • Symbols typed by holding down the 'Shift' key and typing a number are very common in passwords. Your password will be much stronger by including a symbol.
  • Use words that are easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess. The easiest way to remember your passwords is to write them down. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing wrong with writing passwords down, but they need to be adequately protected in order to remain secure and effective.

Password strategies to avoid

Some common methods used to create passwords are easy to guess by criminals. To avoid weak, easy-to-guess passwords:

  • Avoid sequences or repeated characters. '12345678', '222222', 'abcdefg', or adjacent letters on your keyboard do not make secure passwords.
  • Avoid using only look-alike substitutions of numbers or symbols. Criminals and other malicious users who know enough to try and crack your password will not be fooled by common look-alike replacements, such as to replace an 'i' with a '1' or an 'a' with '@' as in 'M1cr0$0ft' or '[email protected]'. But these substitutions can be effective when combined with other measures, such as length, misspellings, or variations in case, to improve the strength of your password.
  • Avoid dictionary words in any language. Criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly guess passwords that are based on words in multiple dictionaries, including words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and substitutions. This includes all sorts of profanity and any word you would not say in front of your children.
  • Avoid your login name. Any part of your name, birthday, social security number, or similar information for your loved ones constitutes a bad password choice. This is one of the first things criminals will try.
  • Avoid storing your password on a network. If malicious users find these passwords stored online or on a networked computer, they have access to all your information

Email Address

Your registration email address is required to enable us to contact you if necessary. It also used as part of the Forgotten Password process and may be needed if you ever contact the online services help desk as part of our security procedures.

Security Answer

Your security answer provides an added level of protection for your personal information that some government online services enable you to access (e.g. Tax details). Not all accounts will be required to register security information.

Security & Memorable Answers

The use of dates is not recommended as date formats can be difficult to remember (e.g. 28/07/1968 or 28thJuly68 or…).

For ease of use we recommend that answers should be between 6 and 10 characters in length.

Terms and Conditions

Please ensure that you have read and understood the Online Services Terms and Conditions before selecting Accept.

An Online Services account will not be created for you until you have accepted the Terms and Conditions.

If you select Decline, the Terms and Conditions page will be displayed the next time you login.

Please Note, once you have created a registration that is not completed, you will be unable to use the same login details to set up another registration. If you have any difficulties please contact [email protected] or Telephone 686111.