48 | | May 2019

Find out if your accounts have been hacked, and what you

should do about it, with Nick Peers

f there’s one thing guaranteed to

bring you out in a cold sweat, it’s the

thought of being hacked. Over the

years we’ve armed you with all the

tools you need to protect your PC

against viruses, hackers, and other

formsofmalware, but it’s an ever-evolving battle.

Thesedays,most threats are behavioural – they rely

onscammerscatching you out with emails harbouring

maliciousattachments and links to fake websites.

Evenif you’re wise to all this, there’s one massive

weaklink:online accounts. Many of us have signed up

fordozensofaccounts, and secured them with short,

memorable,and often reused passwords that are easy

tohack.Worse still, even if you’ve not personally given

up your password, chances are at least one online

service you use has been hacked, exposing your

data to the so-called dark web.

Don’t believe us? In January, the Have I Been

Pwned website released Collection 1, a compilation

of over 770 million compromised online accounts,

including login details and passwords. The site offers

a search tool that lets you see if you’re on the list.

And unless you’re very lucky or barely use online

services, you’re almost certainly going to appear.

Don’t panic. In this feature, we reveal everything

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what to do if you are, and how to lock down your

accounts with free tools and online savvy. Let’s

get a move on.

PANIC

I

48 |^ |^ May 2019