The other day I had a customer come in who had their Facebook account hacked. She mentioned that she never uses Facebook and was not sure how she got hacked. She did not like my next question
Do you use the same password for everything?
She mentioned that she uses the same password all the time because she tends to forget. This is where I mentioned that she really did not get hacked but her password was public information.
When you use the same password for everything it is very easy to guess your password. Most of the time a hacker can just go online and look to see if any of the other websites that you have used has been hacked. Then they see if the hacker posted all the usernames and passwords.
My guess was the hacker just guessed the password. Hell calling them a hacker would be a stretch.
IF they have your email password they have your bank password
While I do appreciate people having a strong password for their bank … they are actually protecting the wrong account. The email account is actually more important than the bank account. The reason behind this is that if the hackers get the password to one of your bank accounts they can take the money from that account. If they have the password to your email account they can access ALL your accounts
It’s common to use email to reset passwords.
If a hacker can get hold of your email password they can reset the passwords to your other accounts. Locking you out from everything. So yes it is important to make sure you have a strong and unique password for your bank But you also need to do the same with your email accounts.
Anti-virus does not help
I have encountered a few people who think just because they have anti-virus or using a Mac they are protected from having their passwords stolen. The problem with this is that the hackers do not need to hack your computer. They don’t even need to know where your computer is located. All they need to do is find out if you have a password that has been stolen in the past and try to use that.
While anti-virus protects your system from malware it can only protect your computer but not the online accounts. I have seen some anti-virus software offer online protection however it does not beat free common sense
