Okay, first off, let me apologize for the lameness of my title. My writers have the week off. It was a poor attempt of a parody of an outdated Nelly Song.
I read this week in the Tech & Gadgets Blog on MSN that Hotmail as well as Yahoo, Gmail, and AOL have all been targeted by phishing attacks over the weekend. The phishing attack harvested at least 10, 000 passwords from Hotmail and numerous other passwords from the other email sites.
I have had a Hotmail account since fifth grade. It was the first tool I used to communicate over the internet with my friends. I know that many people have had a Hotmail account for a long time. One of the practices that Microsoft recommends is for users to change their passwords every 90 days. However I did NOT know that. I have had the same password for my Hotmail account for about five years. This is one tip I urge you to follow after reading this blog.
Along with this advice here is a summary of the five tips from PC World that will help you avoid becoming a victim of phishing attacks:
1) Be skeptical. Don't give out personal information including your user name, password, or account numbers via email. Don't reply to suspicious emails and if you aren't positive that a message is legitimate assume it is not.
2) Contact directly. Whenever you do get an email from a "trusted" source that wants you to give them information or click on a link you should contact them directly. Go see them in person or contact them on the telephone.
3) Analyze statements. Check your bank statements for suspicious activity. Internet banking is a good tool here so you can check if you have suspicious charges or withdrawals. If anything turns up contact your financial institution.
4) Use current web browsers. The newest web browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.5 have built-in phishing protection. They can find malicious sites and warn you in advance.
5) Report attacks. If you think you are being a victim of phishing, report it. Report the suspicious emails to your ISP and to the Federal Trade Commission.
Some of these are common sense. Others I hadn't thought of. I had never thought of reporting suspicious activity to my ISP or the FTC. I don't really pay attention to phishing protection either. What about you? When's the last time you changed your password? Do you follow these steps? Have you recieved any suspicious emails?
All of those are good pieces of advice. I have recently discovered online banking and I love it! It is easier for me to balance my checkbook, or if I forget how much I have in my account, I can go check really quick. Plus, if someone is using my account without my knowledge, I will be alerted to that fact more quickly.
ReplyDeleteI definitely need to change my passwords after reading this. I have the same passwords for everything and they have been that way for year some even since I have created the account. I have been hearing for awhile about phishing scams but don’t think about it too much. Kind of like one of those things that you don’t think can happen to you. When I read that just 10,000 passwords were gotten just this past weekend I couldn’t believe it. Maybe this is something that I need to take into consideration. My cousin has her own photography business and she actually had her account password for her PayPal account from the website she does business with get stolen and they charged over $800 on her account at different Mexican restaurants. It seems funny it would be Mexican restaurants but there is nothing funny about having $800 of your money taken from you. She got her money back and the people were actually caught but that kind of hit home because someone who I know actually had this happen to them. Great post on letting us all know that this is real and can happen to us and for showing us the tips to help protect you.
ReplyDeleteAh, Hotmail. I used a Hotmail account for my whole high school career (yes, I had a very lame username involving a four-legged mammal and a tree). In the entire time I used my Hotmail account I think I'd changed the password maybe 3 times. Identity theft is a HUGE deal these days and even though it may not have been an issue in 8th grade, I seriously need to consider how much personal information I have on the internet and the need to protect my passwords. VCSU makes us change our passwords once a year, but I haven't changed my ConnectND password since I started college (that's four years)! I do online banking too and I need to make sure to keep my passwords changing and up to date to protect myself.
ReplyDeleteI've had a hotmail account for as long as I can remember. I've changed my password several times but have had the same one for quite awhile now and never planned on changing it. I use the same password for almost all my website memberships, too. I would never give out my password or personal information or anything like that, which is why I never felt the need to change my password. However, now I'm thinking twice about it. I never heard of that phishing scam until reading your email... My online banking site makes me change my password every 6 months I think, which is a good idea.
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