March is Fraud prevention month, and the recent problem with web services being hacked has made me a little more cautious about my online habits. One that stands out is the hacking of Evernote. While they were quick to make adjustments to their programs to force users to pick a new password, the fact of the matter is, many people use the same usernames and passwords on numerous services or devices and having them “out there” for the hackers is a scary thing when it comes to personal information.
I’m sure most people do it, they have 3 or 4 common passwords and cycle thru them. As a matter of fact, I’m sure of it. I’ve seen people in my office do it when trying to remember a specific site’s password. If one of those is out there in the wild and you are using the same username in a bunch of places, odds are any hacker worth their salt will be able to find the commonalities and abuse them. If you don’t want to use a different username on everything you sign up for, then at least use a different password for everywhere/everything you use that common username on. If you are worried about forgetting your passwords, or at least forgetting which one is used where, there are plenty of apps out there to help you with that. My app of choice for the past few years is 1Password and I know I’d be lost without it, thankfully it is installed on my iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air so it is always with me.
Don’t be too quick to reset info or provide more info. If you get a request, be it email or a pop up on a website to verify your information, don’t just take it at face value. Wherever possible, call your bank or whoever is requesting the info. It is still difficult to hack a telephone call. Many sites have two-step verification in an attempt to eliminate the hacking of passwords, since you have to match a phrase or image as well as input your password. That’s not to say they are unhackable, just more difficult. The old adage “an ounce of prevention…” still holds true when it comes to your personal info. Think before you share too much. The more info you put out there, the easier it is for you to be spoofed or hacked. Especially when most people’s passwords are either a child’s name or a pet’s name.
Facebook, Twitter and all the social networking sites make it so easy for us to share our lives (and info) with the world, just be careful you are not sharing too much and opening yourself up to personal identity disaster. Check those security settings and use them. If you don’t understand them, find out what they mean. It only takes a few minutes to be safe and can potentially save you tons of time, money and headaches later on.
barkerp
barkerp 