Netiquette IQ Blog Of 5/5/2016 - Time To change your email password

Time To change your email password 

by Tom Costello www.nbcnews.com  5/5/16

Cybersecurity professionals warn that anyone with a personal email account might want to change their passwords following revelations of a massive cache of stolen user names and passwords being offered for sale on the Internet.

The thefts involved some of the biggest email providers in the world such as Google, Yahoo, Hotmail and Microsoft. The bulk of the stolen accounts—some 272.3 million—include Russia's Mail.ru users, according to Alex Holden, founder and chief information security officer of Hold Security who discovered the theft.

"We know he's a young man in central Russia who collected this information from multiple sources," Holden told NBC News. "We don't know the way he did it or the reason why he did it."

The user names and passwords were being offered for sale on the so-called "dark web" where hackers hock their goods.

"The data collection of consumers, the data collection of federal government employees, it's very obvious that it's targeted, that it's orchestrated, and that there is multiple groups in play here," said Theresa Payton, CEO of Fortalice Solutions, a cybercurity company and a former White House Chief Information Officer. "

Hackers use stolen email information to lure users into giving away more information including birthdates, credit card numbers and bank account access.

In 2014, cyber criminals stole $16-billion from nearly 13 million consumers.

All the more reason, say experts, to regularly change passwords regularly—even monthly.

"And more importantly, you should also be thinking about one site, one password," said Lucy Millington, head of corporate security for Sophos Cyber Security. "So don't reuse a password, don't use the same password for the bank, as you do for retail shopping, as you do your email."

So what's a good password?

Well, for starters, don't include the names of your children, pets or home addresses—all information that could easily be found online.

Instead, use abstract combinations of letters, numbers and characters that a criminal's computer program couldn't easily guess.

Mixing languages is another way to throw off hacking programs. Running together the lyrics of a song could also help strengthen passwords.

Experts advise paying for credit monitoring to watch for suspicious activity.

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For a great satire on email, please see the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTgYHHKs0Zwscoop_post=bcaa0440-2548-11e5-c1bd-90b11c3d2b20&__scoop_topic=2455618
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Good Netiquette And A Green Internet To All! 

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Another Special Announcement - Tune in to my radio interview,  on Rider University's station, www.1077thebronc.com I discuss my recent book, above on "Your Career Is Calling", hosted by Wanda Ellett.   

In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” has just been published and will be followed by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

In addition to this blog, I maintain a radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ.

I am the president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a “best of breed” reseller of products for communications, email, network management software, security products and professional services.  Also, I am the president of Netiquette IQ. We are currently developing an email IQ rating system, Netiquette IQ, which promotes the fundamentals outlined in my book.

Over the past twenty-five years, I have enjoyed a dynamic and successful career and have attained an extensive background in IT and electronic communications by selling and marketing within the information technology marketplace.Anyone who would like to review the book and have it posted on my blog or website, please contact me paul@netiquetteiq.com.
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