It’s a good idea to pay attention to news announcements revealing internet crime. Your privacy, security and reputation become items to buy and sell on the black market of identity thieves, when one of your trusted internet service companies gets compromised and burned. If you receive a text alert or an email from one of your trusted websites saying there’s a problem with your account, please attend to it immediately.
Identity and Privacy Challenge
Internet Crime rises every year, hackers sacrifice your privacy, rip off your login credentials, and sell it to the highest bidder.
There are dozens of internet entities, some high profile, that don’t take the necessary precautions to save your account data.
Here are some internet companies that were breached within the last year or so: Adobe, Yahoo!, Snapchat, Gawker, Forbes, Sony, eBay. There will be more in the future.
Lesson Learned
I connected the dots upon receiving an alert from Microsoft that people from other places in the world were attempting to log into my email account.
I produced a video on what it looks like when others try to gain access to your account. I’d like to suggest you use this feature for your important online accounts—like email.
Next, I used a site to check if my online account has been compromised, and found I am on one of those black market lists. Incidentally, I had quickly changed my password a long time ago, but yesterday learned that it was probably the Adobe breach when the criminals targeted my account. I don’t have accounts with any of the other two dozen companies listed on that particular site.
Talk about the unending river of vulnerabilities that hackers exploit for unjust enrichment, here’s a Forbes article on other sites to see if the bad guys have your account info.
I recorded a video on Six Remedies to Email Hijacking to help you keep the bad guys at a distance.
Promise Kept
As a child, my mom asked me, “Doug, did you brush your teeth?” Changing passwords is like brushing your teeth. To show how quick and simple changing your password is, I made a video on Changing Your Microsoft Google or Yahoo! Email Password. Just accept Password Hygiene.
How long has it been since you changed your password last? If you haven’t changed your passwords on the internet sites you visit, it’s a good idea to do so now. That includes your email accounts, and your social media sites: Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, Facebook, and others.
Are you using the same password in multiple places? That’s a No No. You can do better than that. Check out my eBook on Security: 18 Ways to Cut the Risk of an Information Security Breach. Going back to when I was learning the new habit of brushing my teeth, I’d make an excuse, “But mom, my teeth are going to fall out anyway. Why bother brushing them?” Finally, she convinced me to just do it. You should immediately stop making excuses about why you haven’t yet changed your password.
We all must accept the brave new world of hackers pursuing our identity, and companies that are not committed to proper security protocols. We must for our own preservation, adopt proper password hygiene. Some of them are NOT DOING THEIR JOB. When it comes out in the press, it’s too late.
I’d welcome hearing about your situation here. Let me know of your password security and identity challenges, lessons learned, and your commitments to be a safer online web citizen.
