If you haven’t heard by now, there has been another recently discovered data breach that is massive. Originally reported by security researcher Troy Hunt (known for operating haveibeenpwned.com), the numbers are staggering for the so-called “Collection #I”. The slightly unique twist is that this data looks like it has been assembled from a ton of allegedly compromised websites. Let’s look at the numbers:
· Total Unique Email Addresses: 772,904,991
· Total Unique Passwords: 21,222,975
How Can You Check To See If You’ve Been Impacted?
If you haven’t done it already, head on over to https://haveibeenpwned.com and check to see if you are part of the latest data breach.
What Can I Do To Protect Myself In The Future?
There isn’t a perfect answer to that question just yet. But, you can start by:
1. Not reusing passwords for multiple accounts
2. Making sure you use a passphrase when possible. Normally these can be easier to remember and provide a bit more complexity
3. Did we mention never to reuse passwords for your accounts?
Let’s face it. The bad guys are getting pretty good at their craft. One tool that can help to minimize password reuse as well as provide capabilities to auto-generate secure passwords for every account is to use a password manager. There are several out there that offer great features that sync across all of your devices seamlessly. Type in a quick search for Dashlane or 1Password in your favorite browser to familiarize yourself with the concept.
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