Avoid a Palin: Strengthen Your Password Recovery Info
Sarah Palin’s hacked Yahoo! Mail account is old news. But the sheer simplicity of the method used to gain access should still be of concern to every computer user.
Almost everyone knows a strong password is important. (Check out how to make an ultra-strong password in three steps.) However, even if you have a strong password, there are other ways to gain access to your accounts.
As Palin found out this past summer, the weakest link in account security isn’t the password itself, it’s the password reset mechanism. Many online accounts will allow users to reset their password by answering a few security questions. If a hacker answers those questions correctly, they can reset your password and gain complete access to your account.
Herbert Thompson, a writer at Scientific American, wrote an article detailing how he broke into an acquaintance’s online banking account using information that was freely available online. His first-hand account of strong-arming his way into sensitive financial information (with his friend’s permission, of course) made me question the security of all my online accounts. If it only took him a couple of hours to figure it out, how long would it take a professional hacker?
This could happen to you. Find out how to protect yourself from this security loop-hole.
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