The credentials of millions of Twitter accounts have been looted, it was announced Thursday. How about that, and what can you do about it? Five questions about the Twitter hack.
What happened
In short: millions of passwords of Twitter accounts have fallen into the wrong hands. According to the hacker who she claims to have, it is 379 million passwords. Website LeakedSource comes after an analysis of 32 million unique accounts. These data are now on an invisible part of the internet, the Dark Web, offered for sale for ten bitcoin, converted about 5100 euros.
What went wrong?
Twitter itself confirms that passwords are captured, but the company has not been hacked. On his blog writes the company: “We have reports that Twitter names and passwords are available examined on the Dark Web and we are sure that the information does not come from a hack of Twitter’s servers names and passwords be collected. by combining information from other intrusions, malware (fake software) systems and theft of all the websites. “
Whatever the cause, the bottom line is that Twitter names and passwords are for sale . It is not an isolated incident. The same hacker has also previously data from LinkedIn, MySpace and Tumblr for sale.
What is the danger?
First, malicious with your Twitter Data natural log and (inappropriate) messages under your name. That of course is bad enough, but possibly they can much more. If you use the same password and user name or email address to log in to multiple sites, there have also access to it. For example, many people use a default password for both Twitter and Facebook and email. Cybercriminals can computerized test where the captured data even more work and can then break into all kinds of accounts. At worst, they can be close to your bank or government. Then the potential damage far beyond internet shame.
What should I do if I’m affected?
If your Twitter data is captured, it would you must have an email from the company. It explains that your account is frozen and you must reset your password. Twitter encourages everyone to also turn on two-step authentication. This means that a password alone is no longer sufficient to log in; you must also enter a via SMS or app that was sent code before you can access your account.
It is also advisable to adapt data from other Web sites that are the same as / similar to the captured login codes. Hackers codes will be possible to release as many different websites in hopes also to log in there. So make sure that this (automated) process proves unsuccessful.
What can I do to prevent this?
It is always to recommended to disable two-step verification and for every (major) account to come up with other data. That provides a lot to remember information, so to use it to make easier you could consider a program such as LastPass or Dash Lane.
Such programs store credentials on a high security server and log you on automatically so you do not have to think anymore. It is essential that you come up with a really good password that safe and remembers indeed.
A ‘perfect’ password does not exist, but there are a few handy tips. For example: use not only letters but also numbers and punctuation. Make your passwords longer. The longer the better. But make sure it is not predictable sequence, as all the names in your family in a row. Names, ages and street names are also recommended too easy.
The same goes for passwords known as’ password ‘,’ 123456 ‘and’ dadada. The latter would be the password of the hacked Twitter and Pinterest accounts of Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. So invent something that is not too personal, or use a password generator.
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