Researchers at VeriSign's iDefense group have discovered a hacker offering the login details of over 1.5 million Facebook accounts.
If they are all legitimate, that's equivalent to one in every 300 Facebook users. There's therefore a very good chance that one of those belongs to you.
This highlights how enormously important it is to regularly change your Facebook login password. It can be annoying to have to do that, and trying to remember a difficult password is after all, difficult.
But think of the consequences of not changing your password.
Also think about the ways in which your password might get stolen. The easiest way for a login thief is to target public computers or public wi-fi hotspots.
Don't ever login in to ANYTHING on a public computer in an internet cafe for example. That should be an absolute given, especially if it's logging in to a bank. Don't ever do that in public.
Next, if you can bear it, don't log into anything from a public wi-fi like a Starbucks or an airport, or anywhere where you have no idea who controls the network. If you have a 3G data plan, it's far safer to surf with that when logging in to sites, or if you want to use a free wi-fi, get yourself a VPN. That way all of your data is encrypted and nobody can intercept your data and capture your password. You can use these on a laptop or a mobile phone.
It's quite simple to use a password manager, which can not only generate very robust random passwords, but will remember them for you. The weak link in the chain being that the password you use to get into the password manager must be strong because it's the key to all your saved passwords. We like 1Password on the Mac which also syncs with the iPhone, but there are a number of solutions available. Pick a 'try before you buy' and give it a test drive to see if you like the way it works.
Net security is mostly about common sense. If you know the dangers, you'll be more aware.
Go ahead....change your password now
