SECURITY
74 MARCH2020|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE385
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alware targeteddirectlyat computers
usedto be thebiggestthreat most
of uswould encounter.Today,the
prevalenceofthecloudmeansthatalotof us
haveprivateinformation availablethrough
online accounts.Manyof oursmart devicesare
controlledthroughtheseaccounts,too.
From ahacker’sperspective,the easiest
answerto improvedsecurity in manycases is
nottotrytoattack an individual’scomputer,
buttogoafterbigcompaniesand individual
online accounts.Oncean accounthas been
compromised,acybercriminal cangethold of
personal information,changesettings and
evenpotentially orderproducts. Thismeans
that allthesecurity softwareintheworld can’t
help,asthe hackers aren’tgoinganywhere
nearyourcomputerordevices.
Ifthere’saflawinaservice’ssecurity,
thenthere’softennotmuchyou cando to
protect yourself.Before you give up, however,
thereare plentyofthingsyou can
doto minimiserisk. Here’swhat to
lookoutfor.
USE DIFFERENT
PASSWORDS
We’reall guilty of usingthesame
passwordtime and timeagain.
Whilethis makesthingseasier to
remember, italso makesiteasier
forhackers. Ifacompanyis
attackedand cybercriminalsget
awaywithlotsofusernames, email
addresses and passwords, this
informationisoftensoldonline.
The details canthenbeusedtotry
and getaccess to otheraccounts.Ifyou’ve
usedthesamepasswordeverywhere,then this
kindof attackcanbe veryeffective.
To seehow much you’reatriskofthis,
you canusehaveibeenpwned.com.Simply
type in your emailaddress, clickthe
Pwned? buttonandthesitewill tell you
if youappearin anyofthediscovered
listsofstolen userdata.
Searchingforouremailaddress, wesaw
that wewereatrisk from seven breaches,
including 500px, Adobe,Bitly,Dropboxand
Houzz.That’salotofpotentialtrouble.
Youcan also usethePasswords sectionof
thesitetoenteryourpassword(s) tosee ifit
has been spottedin thewild. If ithas,you’re
definitelyintrouble.
Thesinglebest wayto protect your
accounts is touseuniqueand strong
passwordsforeveryservicethat you use.
Thatway,even if oneaccountisbreached,
your otheronesaresafe because they use
differentpasswords.
Youcan do this manuallybyusinglong
passwords foreachsite,potentially recording
eachpasswordinabook. However,we
recommend payingforapasswordmanager,
such asLastPass,whichruns onWindows,
macOS,iOS andAndroid.The softwarecan
securely generate andstore passwords for
every websiteand appyouuse.
Fordesktopusers, thesoftwarecan
generatepasswords whenyou create
accounts, storing theresults. It’smoreofa
manual processonasmartphone,
duetolimitationsintheoperating
systems,and youhavetoopenthe
passwordapp,add anewentryand
then create thepassword.However,
thehassleisworth it,asyouget
secure passwordssynchronised
across allyour devices.
Just don’tforgetthemaster passwordto
your password manager,asyou’ll then be
locked outofeverything:this oneisworth
writingdownand storing somewheresafe.
USE TWO-FACTOR
AUTHENTICATION
Aswell asusingapassword,usetwo-factor
authenticationonany account thatsupportsit.
This requiresyoutoenternotonlyyour
passwordbutalso aunique one-time code.
This codecanbegeneratedby an app,sentvia
text message orevenemailedto you.The
advantageof this typeofsystem is thatif a
criminalgets hold of yourpassword,they still
can’taccessyouraccountwithoutproviding
thesecond codethat’srequired.
PROTECT YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNTS
WITH EVERYTHING IN THECLOUD, HACKERS ARENOW TARGETINGONLINEACCOUNTS
TO STEALYOURDATAAND PRIVACY. HERE’S HOWYOU CANDEFENDYOURSELF
ABOVE:Have IBeen Pwned? is agreat
way of finding out how secure you are
ABOVE:Apasswordmanager is an essentialtooltoprotect your online accounts
