It’s time to consider new passwords and multi-factor authentication or password management tools
The current breach is really a compilation of many breaches, hence it’s name “Compilation of Many Breaches” (COMB), with over 3.2 billion records including lots of personally identifiable information (PII) components including emails, passwords to websites and online service providers and much more, based on 252 prior exploitations, all rolled into this one behemoth of a hackers’ treasure trove.
Don’t wait to see if you’ve been a victim. Immediately visit this website and type in your email to see if your information is part of any breach. It’s called HaveIBeenPwned located at https://www.haveibeenpwned.com/.
Consider a password manager. We’ve yet to review them but we are reaching out to these vendors to consider them for a Cyber Security Magazine product review:
It’s time to take your passwords more seriously now, than ever before. If you can enable multi-factor authentication, for example, requiring a code from an SMS message, do it at every website or service provider and in every banking, financial and personal application you run. Multifactor authentication is usually enabled under settings and security in most web sites or applications.
Please make it a habit to visit AnnualCreditReport.com for your free once-a-year credit report and look for anything strange. If you see something odd, call all three credit bureaus and tell them you want a credit freeze and to put a lock on your credit report account.
If you think you’ve been a victim of an identity theft, visit IdentityTheft.gov and follow their instructions.
About the Author
Gary Miliefsky is a cybersecurity, breach prevention, and privacy expert. He is CEO of Cyber Defense Media Group and a founding member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the National Information Security Group, and the OVAL advisory board of MITRE responsible for the CVE Program.
