Just in case you’ve been living under your sheets until four in the afternoon (which, let’s face it, is easy to do), you should know that Russians are copping your shit.
It was two weeks ago that Hold Security, a Milwaukee-based cyber-security firm, discovered that over 1.2 billion passwords and accounts were hacked from a circle in Russia. Most of these accounts and passwords are from Fortune 500 companies that contain debit/credit card information, birth dates and social security numbers. Pretty much someone’s entire life is in the hands of Forever 21, respectively.
Via: WordPress
Security experts are calling this the hack of the century. The Heartbleed bug and the Target breach are just babies compared to these Russian pros. The hacking circle is a small company that Hold Security linked back to Moscow.
How is this different from past cyber attacks?
These hackers are testing websites for vulnerability with code. If they find that a site isn’t protected through security software, they flag it and then return back to the site to steal account information and passwords. Hold Security found that close to 420,000 websites were flagged and hacked. All sites were American-owned companies. I’m feeling some aggression from our former Cold War pals. This could be their way of sticking it to the man. I mean, they did get so much shit for how they hosted the winter Olympics. What happened to that fifth Olympic ring Russia?
Via: WordPress
Why you’re a target
You’re a college student or a 20-something-year-old who has grown to trust the Internet and all things technical. We don’t think about the possible damage that our beloved social media sites and apps could do to us. We don’t even read the terms and conditions of installing a new app (Facebook messenger, cough, cough). So, it’s only natural that we don’t use our brains when we go online shopping.
Credit? Hell no, I don’t trust myself to pay this back on time. Debit all the way. Security code? Of course — let me sell my soul to you, Amazon.
We’re putting our lives on the line for a new pair of shoes. These hackers aren’t just stealing personal information just to spend your money. They’re making a killing by selling your identity on the black market. You know that part of the Internet that advertises hit men and hookers? Yeah, that’s also were your identity is sold. The identity of a rich white girl who frequents Starbucks on the regular is very marketable.
Via: WordPress
Get serious about protecting your online life
If you think your password is super complicated and hack-proof, think again. Hackers can crack the code to a website’s set up and find your information by accessing your account that way. Your complicated password has no armor. A password manager, on the other hand, protects against malware and is hard to crack. The best part about it, you only need to remember one master password that will work for all of your accounts. Password managers like Sticky Password and Dashlane organize and remember all of your various passwords for different sites.
Password managers run for about $20 a year, but it’s worth it if it means that some 30-year-old drug addict won’t be buying TVs under the name of Jessica from Florida.
Featured photo courtesy: WordPress
