Accounts Hacked – MyFitnessPal
Another one gets bit! MyFitnessPal has been hacked. The hackers gained access to information from over 150 million user accounts.
What should you do?
First and foremost, if you have an account with MyFitnessPal – go change your password! – Please don’t wait, do it now… (going to change mine…)
OK, I’m back…
Accounts Hacked – Increasing Occurrence
This keeps happening more and more. Account hacking is nothing new, and it’s not going away. SInce it is now a regular occurence, what can we do?
- Use a password manager – I use LastPass
- Use complex passwords – combination of upper case, lower case, numbers and special characters. This is made easier by number 1 above.
- Do not re-use passwords – the same passwords for different sites. Again, see number 1 above.
- Two-Factor authentication – When possible, use two factor authentication. This is typically done with a service and a pass code that is generated with an app or sent via email. So you need your account ID and password and then an addition code (sometimes this can replace the password all together.
Another blog post about passwords and security – still applies.
More than just one account
Once a hacker gets your information, they will use automated tools to see what else they can access with the information they have. Compiling data on people is nothing new, heck even the social media sites are doing it.
Just think about all those quizzes you take online. There is a lot of data and the hackers use this to put the puzzle pieces together. First car you owned, pet’s names, places you lived, schools you attended – very common to see one or two of these in those simple “harmless” quizzes – you know, just trying to get to know people better.
Take all of this data and put in a database – then aggregate, compile, and leverage… no wonder identity theft is so prevalent.
Email ID is a common user ID for login to many sites. Once they have this they have 1/2 the information they need. Second piece is the password. If you re-use passwords on various sites, they can now access them using the acquired information. Start with harvesting more data – and with the power of computers today – hacking is becoming easier and easier.
No one is safe
Yes, I have been hacked. More specifically I have had credit cards / debit cards pinched. Three times in the last 6 months! đŸ˜®
I have also been informed by companies that my data was breached – at least 4 times over the past 2 years. So – yeah, this is happening more and more.
(those fancy little chips on your credit card are not much better – they can be duplicated as well)… and how many of us re-use the same PIN for all our cards?
Remember – anything man made can be man broken! Just a matter of time and resources.
Do what we can
All we can do to prevent getting hacked is keeping on top of our game. Use complex passwords. Keep an eye on your accounts – review periodically. There is no guarantee that is will not happen. Just hope that by minimizing our exposure, we will limit our risk.
Need help? Let me know… Just change that password NOW!
Peace, Love & Success!
-Dennis
