Internet Security

It must be a decade since I took a computer security class as part of my degree program at Westfield State College. Since that time, computer security has become an even bigger industry.

Courtesy Google Images

During the course of my research for a term paper about Kevin Mitnick, an infamous computer hacker, I learned about the Def Con Hacking Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to the Huffington Post, it is an annual event that attracts thousands of the best code crackers to discuss the latest hacking techniques. Hackers can make a name for themselves by demonstrating how they find security flaws in technology that most consider well-protected.

What amazed and confounded me most about the conference was the assertion by one of the attendees that he could hack a bank account using information from an ATM slip. This prompted me to make sure that I never leave my ATM slips in the trash at the teller; I shred them.

Database breaches have had an indirect impact on me. On three separate occasions, institutes I’ve done business with have had their databases compromised. Each incident resulted in that company enrolling me, at no cost to me, in a credit watch agency. Fortunately, none of the incidents presented a financial hardship for me.

I’ve probably become lax regarding computer security. I came across an article by Mat Honan at Wired.com that reminded me how much damage a hacker can do. The article, How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking describes, in detail, the process the hacker(s) used, the data lost by Mr.Honan and the process (and cost) of retrieving just 75% of what was destroyed. (They were even able to erase data from his mobile phone and home computing devices.)

Mr. Honan’s experience has led me to re-evaluate my on-line practices. I think there are three (3) elements of internet security we should all practice:

1     1.  Don’t save credit card/bank information on a site just to make purchases and bill paying easier.

2     2.  Create complex passwords that contain a mixture of letters, numbers and characters.

3     3.  Don’t use the same password for all your secure internet sites.

I think what happened to Mr. Honan is frighteningly educational. I wouldn’t want it to happen to me.

Is anyone else concerned about leaving an electronic trail that hackers could utilize?