Everyone should know that you never use your NetID and/or NetID password on any website except your UW–Madison login page. But, do you know why?
Passwords are getting easier to crack. To see how easy it is, enter your password at “How Secure is Your Password?”
Once your NetID and password are stolen, the door for is open for criminals to access your private information (which includes financial, school and work information) as well as UW–Madison online data.
Follow these steps to help keep your private information private!
- Never share your NetID or password with anyone (that includes family and friends). It could cause you to lose access to NetID-based websites as well as other potential ramifications.
- Set your NetID recovery email
- This allows you to recover your NetID if you’ve forgotten your password or other account info.
- Set or verify your recovery questions
- This allows you to reset your NetID password if needed
- Can be used to obtain a temporary passcode for MFA-Duo if you’ve lost or forgotten your device.
- Enroll in MFA-Duo today. All students are required to enroll by Oct. 31 (or earlier if your campus employer requires you to do so). Faculty and Staff have been using MFA-Duo for months. Why should students enroll now?
- Better protection for your and UW–Madison’s online data.
- Get comfortable with authenticating before your midterms.
- You’ll lose access to Canvas, MyUW, and other services if you don’t enroll by Oct. 31.
- Never reuse passwords for different websites or accounts.
- Reusing a password simply aids hackers as they take your login information and use that password to log into your other accounts (e.g. bank, credit card, shopping sites).
- Use a password manager such as LastPass. Available to UW–Madison campus in the next few months.
Get more Cybersecurity tips at UW–Madison Information Technology guides.