I had a strange dream last night where someone hi-jacked the account on my computer and my e-mail account. I use two passwords for virtually every site I'm on, including my own website. While one is a 90/100 strength the other is a 50/100 strength.
So here are my questions about computer hi-jacking:
-How do you know that your computer/e-mail account/hosting account has been "hi-jacked"
-How can you prevent it
-How do you "start over"
Do I have to change every single one of my passwords now or am I okay?
Quote from: Garrett on June 27, 2014, 11:33:45 AM
I use two passwords for virtually every site I'm on, including my own website. While one is a 90/100 strength the other is a 50/100 strength.
That's a very bad idea. You should use different, complex passwords for everything you login to -- no passwords should be used more than once to be fully secure. A complex password, for example, would be something like 3%)d$Zi\:yX2P*X
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-How do you know that your computer/e-mail account/hosting account has been "hi-jacked"
There's not a simple answer to that. Depends on how you define "hi-jacked." There could be hundreds (or more) of symptoms depending on what was compromised.
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-How can you prevent it
Use complex passwords, don't login to sites on public networks, use current firewall and av software, don't login or register on suspicious sites, don't open attachments you're not expecting, don't install software you're unsure of, etc.. There's probably hundreds of suggestions for this question.
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-How do you "start over"
Depends on what you mean by "start over."
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Do I have to change every single one of my passwords now or am I okay?
I would change it so you're using different passwords for everything.
Here's a password discussion thread recommending software for managing complex passwords:
http://www.charlottezweb.com/forums/index.php?topic=1501
Regards,
Jason