Protecting your online identity in an age of cybercrime
Avoid the Hack
F ootball. Monkey. Dragon. These aren’ t the makings of a new sports league at your local zoo. For many, one of these words is the only thing protecting them from harm’ s way on the Internet. Each year, security application provider SplashData releases a list of the top passwords compiled from leaks and security breaches, and words like“ password,”“ 12345,” and those listed above consistently appear in the top 25. For many, a simple password alongside their username or email address is all that prevents unwanted parties from making unauthorized purchases, transfers of funds, or access to personal financial information online.
As computing resources become more abundant and widely available, so does the risk of being targeted in an attack. In most cases, individuals aren’ t specifically targeted but instead are one of hundreds or even thousands of targets in an automated brute-force campaign. A brute-force attack is one in which passwords are guessed automatically by a computer program in rapid succession. With enough targets and enough passwords to try, there is a high likelihood of getting a successful match. Modern computers can guess passwords at an alarming rate in the millions or even billions of passwords per second! Additionally, dictionary attacks incorporate common words into their guesses to more quickly guess passwords if they are commonly found words or variations thereof. Most of us are well-aware of the biggest data breaches in the past few years. Target, Chase, Home Depot, Ebay, Sony, and TJ Maxx are just a few household names that have fallen victim to some security breach in recent times. What we don’ t see, however, is where that information ends up when the stories fade from the front page of mainstream news outlets. We also rarely hear about data breaches that occur in many of the 28 million small businesses in the United States. Each day, Premier One logs thousands of blocked attempts from attackers trying to access its customers’ systems. In today’ s technological landscape, truly anyone can be a target.
Mitigating the Risks
As with other forms of security, preventing attacks and security breaches outright is not possible for online accounts. Instead, as consultants, we work with our clients to add layers of security, each with the aim of mitigating some types of risks. When it comes to personal online accounts, though, there are many steps you can take on your own to mitigate the risk of having your identity compromised.
| January-February 2016 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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