On December 11th, 2010 the blog Gawker was attacked by cyber criminals who were able to penetrate Gawker’s systems and steal their subscriber’s user names and passwords. The following day, criminals posted this information on the internet, posting over a million usernames and passwords. Many individuals used the same user name and password on the Gawker site as they did on consumer email, banking and other platforms. Hackers began using the posted information to begin randomly checking the compromised usernames and passwords on popular social networking, banking and internet service provider log in sites.
While it is easier to utilize just one user name and password for all of your online activity, this increases your online risk if your online credentials end up in the hands of a criminal. EarthLink recommends using a unique user name and passwords for all sites you use on the web.
Other security tips include:
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