Twitter Hacked

It seems like there's been a number of Twitter accounts hacked in the last few days.

If you've received a password reset request from Twitter via email, we urge you to change your password immediately, BUT, as ever, go direct to the website through your browser, rather than clicking a link in an email....just in case.

It's also worth reminding you of the importance of not using the same password for Twitter as you do for your online banking or any other sensitive website.

As in this case, if your password is stolen, it can potentially be used wherever else you log in, if you use the same password.

Even if you haven't had a recent password reset request, it might just be worth thinking about changing yours anyway. Think of it as a bit of house-keeping.

Also consider adding something to your password that is particular to that site, that you can easily remember, and that will make it different to your other passwords.

Don't delay - do it today!

Lulzsec email harvests

There's a cool little website that can check if your email address has been compromised.

It seems to be legitimate, so possibly worth checking out in light of all the recent security breaches by hackers.

Enter your password into the text box and click to see if it has been collected by hackers. If you're unliky enough to have had your email address hacked or harvested, change your password immediately.

https://shouldichangemypassword.com/

1.5 Million Facebook ID's for sale

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