Today, we have millions of online accounts. Between social media, school accounts, and online shopping subscriptions, our personal information is all over the internet. The problem? All we have is a simple password to protect it all. The internet has practically become our lives over the past few years and with recent security flaws, it puts us at a vulnerable state. Most recently was the Heartbleed Bug. The Heartbleed Bug is a serious vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL cryptographic software library. The bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop on communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users. We are often our worst enemy when it comes to putting ourselves at security risks online. We all know that feeling when, yet again, another website is asking for us to create a username and password. We get lazy and create very simple passwords without thinking twice about it. Studies show that for years “password” was the most popular, and recently in 2013, it was “123456”. It is scary to think that all our personal information exposing our identity is protected by something as simple and easy as that. As college students, we often fail to think about the potential impact security flaws can have on us. About $250 billion is lost to fraud each year. Companies are trying to prevent these numbers from increasing by researching alternate ways to passwords such as a skin patch or password pill. Although these methods are far down the road from happening, there are other ways to protect your identity from online hackers.
- First and foremost, make a strong password. Be sure to use upper and lowercase letters along with symbols and numbers. Never use a common word that anybody can think of.
- Get a password manager. Programs such as 1Passwrod, Passpack and LastPass help protect your passwords and ensure better security.
- Lastly, be careful of what information you put on the internet. Be smart and don’t give out your social security number or address unless it’s a site you 100% trust.
Sources:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/the-internet-has-a-password-problem