National cyber security centre pushes ‘three random words’ message in latest burst of cyber aware campaign

The National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of GCHQ, is launching the latest part of a major new campaign which aims to help keep people safe online. The push was developed in partnership with creative agency M&C Saatchi London.

The wide-reaching government Cyber Aware campaign, which is running across broadcast, online and out-of-home with almost 2,000 billboard placements, aims to raise awareness of things we can all do to ensure that our email security is significantly better protected.

Opportunistic criminals are now taking advantage of more people using digital devices than ever before with scams that can lead to accounts being hacked. Last year saw a 161% increase in unauthorized access to personal information offences – including hacking.

The latest burst of the new campaign recommends that consumers and small businesses take their email security to another level by advising them to use passwords made up of three random words. 

The advice aims to help create strong passwords that are easy enough to remember but hard for criminals to guess.

The integrated push is brought to life through humorous scenarios in unexpected places to create memorability. We see an interesting mix of unique, yet approachable characters, that provide clear advice on how we can all make our email passwords harder to hack.

The two new films, directed with dry wit by Luc Schurgers at HunkyDory Films, use visual metaphors to make the ‘choose three random words’ message impossible to forget.

Campaign activity includes digital, radio, social, web and online advertising. Media planning is managed by Bountiful Cow and media buying is by OmniGov.