Yahoo hacked, 500 million accounts stolen. FBI chasing criminals invading US election computers. Oklahomans victims in Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield hack. Internet crooks holding family photos hostage.
It seems every time you turn around, here comes another news story about criminals using computers and the Internet to wreck our lives. How did things get so bad? How can everyday people protect themselves?
When you take my free, one-night class, “Fight the Internet Bad Guys and Win,” at the central Norman Public Library October 11, 6:30pm, we talk all about these issues. Call the library at (405) 701-2697 to register. Computer and Internet safety is a personal responsibility to be taken just as seriously as turning on the headlights when you drive your car in the dead of night. Age does not matter; neither does “what you do” on your computer. If you do not know the information contained in my class, you are driving in the dark with no headlights. You are a danger to yourself and everyone else around.
Yes, Yahoo has been hacked, once again. Yahoo admitted last week over 500 million Yahoo accounts had been stolen, complete with names, addresses, passwords, the works. Disasters like this are nothing new for Yahoo; they have been guilty of many horrible security violations over the years, making them, because they are so widely used, one of the most dangerous websites on the Internet.
Among the creepiest things about this most recent hack is that it went unreported for two years. That’s right: 500 million Yahoo users had their account information stolen two years ago in 2014, but the rest of the world is just now learning about it, in 2016. Lawsuits have already been filed stating that Yahoo, “intentionally, willfully, recklessly, or negligently” failed to guard its computer databases and failed to inform customers that their data “was not kept in accordance with applicable, required, and appropriate cyber-security protocols, policies, and procedures.”
Advice for Yahoo users is about the same as anyone victimized in this way. Given the long-standing partnership between Yahoo and AT&T, and the tight infrastructure between their email systems, I believe AT&T users should take the same precautions as Yahoo users. If it was me, I would completely ditch Yahoo and AT&T email accounts and switch to different email providers.
If, however, you choose to stay where you are, be absolutely sure to change your email passwords. Make sure they are complex enough to meet modern standards. Change your security questions, too, immediately. Both these chores are critical. The stolen Yahoo accounts have been in the Internet bad guy’s hands for two years now, and you can be sure they have been and are currently being exploited.
500 million is a lot of accounts to deal with, though, so hopefully you will change your login information before your account rises to the top and the bad guys decide it’s now time to mess with you. Visit my website, or search the Transcript website for “Crooks rob consumers using Yahoo website” and you will find the column I wrote in August of 2015 chronicling Yahoo’s sordid security past.
Yahoo users should also be extra-vigilant for targeted scam emails. Given that the bad guys have 500 million Yahoo email addresses, along with the names associated with those addresses, it becomes super-easy for them to craft custom-made, extra-convincing scam emails directed not only at your email address, but addressing you by name, as well. They might even throw in what city you live in, just to make the scam message even more enticing.
This week’s column was promised to be about backing up your computer, but the ugly Yahoo story butted into the front of the line. Tune in next week and we’ll deal with the important subject of computer, phone and tablet backups.