Social News: Beef Up Your Online Security

What Can You Do To Prevent Internet Theft?

Hear how it all went wrong and how to stop it

We all fall victim to a breach of online security eventually. While a password is most often an effective means to keeping accounts private, a dedicated intruder can find a way in. So what are the real dangers of being hacked? Mat Honan, a reporter for print and digital magazine Wired, knows what it’s like to have an online identity get wrecked.

Recently, Honan was attacked on his Google, Apple, Amazon, and Twitter accounts as well as his personal computer. Through these attacks, he lost all personal content and data on his laptop and other Apple devices. Honan claims the vandals were able to login to his account by persuading an Apple representative to reset his Apple ID password. With that access and Honan’s iCloud syncing, all data from his iPhone, iPad, and MacBook were wiped clean. The same process was used to get into his Amazon account.

So if Honan’s passwords were not compromised, then where is the actual security breach? In this instance, most of the blame falls to corporations like Apple and Amazon. Since Honan’s incident and he shared his story, both companies have removed over the phone password reset and changed security protocols all together.

As companies try to increase your privacy, what steps can you take to protect yourself?

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  Back, Back, Back It Up – Whether you’re saving to a local backup or a Cloud-based service, at least once a month store your most precious data in another secure location.


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  Mix It Up – Don’t always use the same email address and change your password regularly. If a thief only has to unlock one email address for multiple accounts, you’re making it too easy.


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  Use a Two-Step Verification – It’s an extra layer of security that might take more time, but is much more effective long term. For Google accounts, you can easily turn on Two-Step Verification. Click here to watch a tutorial video.
  


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  Stay Persistent – No one will ever be able to eliminate online theft, but there are plenty of ways to make your information more secure. Be sure to change settings regularly and don’t get too comfortable.

What are you doing to stay safe online?

For more tips, check out these articles from Mashable and AOL Tech. You can read Mat Honan’s story from Wired and USA Today.

Social News: Beef Up Your Online Security