If you can remember your password — change it now. And some habits !!!
We all love our online life — when was the last time you wrote a cheque to pay someone? Or went to the post office to buy a stamp?
If you can login to your online bank account or email account from memory — read on. Your password is possibly one of the millions available with a hacker’s bible — the Brute Force Dictionary.
The very computing power easily available off the shelf today is available to a wide array of dark forces looking to make an extra buck stealing your credentials and getting into your life as “you”. If you haven’t already heard about Yahoo’s Data breaches, the last one compromising over a billion records (no — I have not switched my “m” and “b” keys), you need to get out from under the rock you are living in.
A good password is all that stands between your life now to one where someone has access to all your data or — worse — your assets. Change it now. To something you can’t remember. If nothing, please make sure its not one of the ones on this list.
Which begs the obvious question… The answer to that is LastPass. Arguably the most trusted and well designed Password Manager on the internet. Use LastPass to generate your passwords. Use their (free) app on your mobile device and you are set. LastPass uses excellent hashing and encryption to store your data. Just make sure you write your master password some place and let your wife or friend know — amnesia can be a bitch.
Some other habits you should change:
Firefox to browse and there are a set of Firefox AddOns you simply must have. Install Ghostery plugin which will prevent needless trackers
- Add the LastPass plugin to help you login easily — and manage your passwords securely
- This Guy (ForceTLS) will ensure you are accessing a website securely (https) and not just http (insecurely)
- DON’T CLICK on a link — on an email or an article. If you want to open it, copy the link, paste it on a new browser window, INSPECT THE URL and then go !
- DON’T ACCESS any site or app requiring a login over a public wifi (hotels, railway station, airport). If you have to, install the HideMan app on your mobile or laptop, turn on the free VPN (it ensures all your browsing is secure) and turn it on while browser — no one can snoop on you now.
- If you are a sucker for punishment use NoScript — it ensures no needless JavaScript gunk is running on your browser without need. It creates problems on websites that rely on 3rd party javascript to render content. But that’s a pain I’m willing to live with.
- A Huge blocker to anyone trying to sneak into your secure data – Two-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Recognizing you and providing you access to your data (email, bank account, FB profile) relies on your password – something you know. Many sites now rely on this and something you have. A random passcode generated on a device you hold. Most websites now allow you to setup MFA. Anyone who who has your password now has to hack the passcode provider as well and identify you there and figure out your passcode (which is constantly changing) to hack into your account. You’ve now made it enormously more difficult for the baddies.
Security and Convenience are the greatest Oxymorons. You want more of one, you end up giving up some of the other. And yet, there are tools like the ones above that may just make going secure slightly less painful.
Stay safe. Use protection!!
