Wednesday, June 17, 2015

HACK, HACK AND MORE HACK

We've all got so many passwords that it takes a lot of patience and time to deal with them all.  To make matters worse, every bank, credit card company, medical portal, insurance company and dog food retailer has different rules for what you can use for a password and how often you have to change it.  Of course, all of this is designed to protect your cyber security. 

A couple of enterprising guys have capitalized on the proliferation of hacking and need for passwords, such as Life Lock and LastPass.  LastPass is a service that stores your passwords for you in a password protected database which allows you, and you only, to access your passwords from multiple devices. 

The problem is... LastPass just got hacked. If you use LastPass, you need to change all of your passwords now.  

Everyone who uses a PC, laptop, tablet or smart phone, listen up:  Any time you access your bank, credit card, medical portal, insurance company or any other other site that may contain some of your confidential information, you are at risk.  To me, if I'm walking down a dark street late at night, I become acutely aware of my surroundings; I get my guard up and I'm also 99.9% likely to be carrying a concealed weapon.  In the same manner, whenever I get onto the Internet or do text messaging, I become extra cautious about website addresses, email addresses, spurious emails and text messages from unknown sources.  And I have a strong firewall, virus protection and malware security.  

I don't store my passwords anywhere except my notepad hidden in my house and I change them frequently.  I don't check my bank or credit card balance from my smart phone or tablet.  I don't leave my laptop or desktop on when I'm not around or at night.  I disconnect from the Internet when I am not using it.  

Don't be to blame for your own problems; be proactive and self-protective.  




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