Fencing in your account

A password for one gate only

Leaked password lists get replayed against thousands of other websites within hours. A password that opens one site and nothing else is useless to whoever stole it.

• Have a password manager generate something long and random, and let it do the remembering
• Switch on a second sign-in step, such as a code by app or text, wherever it is offered
• Keep your login to yourself, even when a friend only wants to borrow it for a minute

Looking at the address bar first

Peek at the top of the window before any password goes in. Our games live on crazygames.com; a near-miss spelling, an extra word or an odd ending means you are somewhere else, however familiar the page looks.

Messages that offer free items if you sign in through their link deserve suspicion. Type the platform’s address yourself instead.

One visit to the privacy screen

The day you register, spend a moment in the settings screen. Look at what your public profile reveals, whether people can find you through your email address, and which newsletters you have accidentally agreed to. Each switch takes seconds to change and can be flipped back later.

For the youngest players in the house

Family tools built into phones, computers and browsers cover every website at once, which is usually easier than adjusting each platform.

• Family Link from Google lets a parent cap daily use and approve sites on Android phones and Chromebooks
• Apple’s Screen Time sets downtime and restricts kinds of websites on iPhone, iPad and Mac
• Microsoft’s family settings send activity summaries and enforce limits on Windows and in Edge
• Giving a child their own browser profile keeps their history and logins away from yours

When the gate has been forced

Go to the platform’s own website, set a new password, end every other active session and write to its support team. Wherever you reused that password, replace it as well. For a deeper read, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security keeps clear, jargon-free advice at cyber.gc.ca.