A new website entitled “HaveIBeenPwned.com” recently launched that indexes millions of accounts that have been exposed in some of the largest data breaches in the past 3 years, including the most recent data theft from Adobe, in which over 153 millions accounts were dumped onto the internet. This website allows anyone to punch in their email address to see if their credentials were a part of the haul the data thieves looted in these attacks. Interestingly enough, I punched in my personal email address and discovered (as expected) my account was one of the 153 million exposed in the Adobe breach. Other breaches covered in this database include Yahoo, Sony, Stratfor and Gawker. If you happen to use any websites from those companies, it may be worth your while to check to see if you might have a password issue.

What this means for you:

If you happen to score one or more hits in the database on this website, and you know you’ve used the same password exposed in the above data breaches on other sites, you should stop using that password immediately and head out to change your other passwords ASAP. Even if you didn’t score a hit in the database, there are data breaches happening constantly, and computers have become strong enough to crack the encryption used to store and ostensibly protect them. Where possible (and reasonable), you should be using unique, strong passwords for all your important web services, especially the ones that have access to your sensitive data and money. Programs like Passpack (what I use) and LastPass are indispensible tools to assist in making strong password use practical. Each has a bit of a learning curve and will take some getting used to, but the time spent will be a worthwhile investment in protecting yourself online.

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.