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Future Link IT Support Alert

New Your Times uncovered a Russian Crime Ring has collected over 1.2 BILLION usernames and passwords from multiple websites and over 500 Million additional email addresses1. The websites that were hacked have not yet been released yet and will likely not be released for months. 

What does this mean for you?

Many of these websites are small websites you are probably not worried about getting hacked but many people reuse passwords.  The hackers will use the email addresses and user names and password combinations on other sites.  Often looking for financial sites to steal your money or your identity or take over an email account so they can reset a password of your financial accounts.

What should you do?

Change your passwords.  All of them! Here is a link to an article on how to create a good password. I would recommend having different passwords for any critical site.  You’re Bank, stock account, corporate login and you’re Email (your email is used to reset these passwords).  Then we all have many other accounts from social media, photo share favorite blog etc.  I would recommend having a minimum of one for all of these one for each would be best but let’s be real we cannot remember them all.  Then use a different username and password for any small sites this would be for a local blog, or chat room you follow.  These sites have lower security and are likely places to get attacked and if you use the same user name and password as your bank you’re at risk.

 

1 NYTimes.com article by NICOLE PERLROTH and DAVID GELLES, “Russian Hackers Amass Over a Billion Internet Passwords” Aug 5, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/technology/russian-gang-said-to-amass-more-than-a-billion-stolen-internet-credentials.html?_r=0

2 www-935.ibm.com: April 2014, IBM Security Services, 2014 Cyber Security Intelligence Index

Future Link IT – Elgin IL

IT Support for Chicago and surrounding suburbs