Protect Yourself Against Leaked Passwords
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Recently, twenty thousand passwords were stolen on the Internet. Was yours one of them? Even if you were lucky enough to dodge the bullet this time, who says your precious account information will stay safe in the future? Learn why you need to be cautious with your passwords, and how to safeguard them from being leaked.
If passwords from Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail can be leaked so easily, what else might be revealed in the future? What if your online bank account was compromised? What if your eBay account was hacked into? What if you don’t know what to do about it? What can you do to protect against leaked passwords, and prevent all this heartache from happening?
Phishing: A Crash Course
Okay, so let’s deal with every side of the problem. How do passwords get stolen online? One of the main culprits is phishing, a form of online thievery that can trick even the most Internet-savvy surfers out there. Phishing often works by masquerading as an e-mail from a trusted, well-known online company, soliciting information from users.
Some phishing scams, though extremely common, work because they feed on fear. You might get a letter saying your account has been compromised, for instance, and be asked to respond to this threat in some way. Perhaps you’ll be asked to click a link, download a file or reply to the mail with very specific data included. And what happens? Your accounts get compromised and you become a victim.
PayPal is a frequent subject of phishing, for obvious reasons. PayPal is one of the Internet’s most trusted electronic payment programs, so ubiquitous it’s even used by eBay to make buying and selling online all the easier.
Have you even received a so-called e-mail from PayPal, telling you that something’s wrong with your account? Then it’s highly likely you’ve actually seen phishing firsthand. Now, learn what you can do to protect yourself against it -- and other leaked password problems.
Next: How to Spot Phishers >>
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