Earlier today, we read an article that seemed almost like satire. It was about a hacker named Jeremy Hammond, who carried out high-profile intrusions into government websites. Yet despite the highly illegal nature of his work – not to mention the fact that at one point he topped the FBI's most-wanted cybercriminals list – Hammond had resorted to a decidedly terrible password for his personal computer. That password was "Chewy 123" – and Chewy was his cat.
Hammond now has 10 years of government-issued downtime to ruminate, from the confines of a cell, on just how bad his password was. As Hammond explained to the Associated Press, he thinks it's this very password that got him in the end, and led to his capture. That may very well be the case. But regardless of exactly how the authorities ended up busting Hammond's door down, his silly password got us thinking about other security mistakes people make that have remarkably easy fixes. We decided to highlight some common security-compromising practices in the hope that you guys can purge them from your system:
- Not logging out of email or Facebook on a computer other than your own: Many people reading this article will have a desk job, and of that group, we're guessing that every single one checks either Facebook or email while at work. I mean, how can you not? But if you leave work while still signed on to either of those two platforms, that represents a risk that's not worth taking. When you leave email or social media up on a work account, this leaves those accounts vulnerable to anyone else who might happen to access that computer. In addition to that, if there's a strain of malware that's hit your office network and your Facebook is live on that network, you're at risk. So remember to sign off. With Facebook, it's easy to see if you have other sessions active besides the one you're currently using. Just go to Security > Where You're Logged In > Edit. From there you can terminate all active sessions but the one you're on.
- Using the same password for everything: The only thing worse than having the password "Chewy 123" would be having that password for all of your different accounts. Unfortunately, too many people out there are in the habit of using the same password across platforms, which is just a recipe for disaster. If you're one of those people, then you risk a domino effect occurring if even one of your accounts is compromised. Therefore, it's vital to come up with different passwords for each of your accounts. Believe us: This is not a waste of time.
- Accepting an app's terms of use without reading them: How often do you go to download a new app on your phone only to mindlessly breeze through the "Terms and Conditions" page? Well if you do, then you're doing exactly what the app developers want. You see, a lot of the time, those "conditions" often boil down to exactly how much of your personal information the app gets to use and regurgitate. Some people wonder why apps post statuses on their Facebook, but this is because they've unwittingly agreed to terms and conditions that allow the app access to users' Facebook accounts. Don't let this happen to you. At the very least, read the terms and conditions of everything you download to know what you're getting into. For many apps, it's possible to enjoy the functionality of the app without exposing any of your personal data – but that just takes a little bit more effort and attention on your part.