Columbia, SC (WLTX) - These days it seems no one is immune from an online attack.
On Tuesday, the NFL's Twitter page was taken over by hackers.
Experts say the best protection is for you to have a strong password.
“A lot of people will use the same password for a long time I did” 52inc Founder and Software Developer Chris Thibault admits.
Thibault said he has been hacked before and the most common reason people are hacked is because they are using the same password for multiple accounts.
“There are a couple of common ways a person can use the same password for every website,” the software developer explained. “Incorporate a part of the URL so say if I’m dropping into DropBox then include the word DropBox into every password or if I’m logging into Facebook, use the word Facebook in my password that way I don’t have to memorize them."
Thibault said this allows you to have a different password for each site. He also said if you use this method, if someone is using an automatic software to attack it will probably miss these types of passwords.
“Obvioulsy that is not as secure as using a strong randomly generated password,” Thibault said.
The best practice is to have different passwords for every account and changing them every few months.
“Making sure that the password is longer in length making sure that you are adding capital letters, that you are adding even punctuation marks if you’re able to, numbers,” Columbia College’s Digital Media Strategist Kiosha Boyles pointed out. “If you are adding words and creating a phrase, making sure it’s not a phrase that can commonly go together.”
Boyles suggests using a password manager like Keeper or 1Password so you do not have to remember every code.
“An application that allows you to manage and store your passwords in one platform,” Boyles said. “So you create one master password and so that gives you access to all of the usernames and passwords for your other social media and online accounts.”
Thibault says you need to always install software updates on your phone and computers as soon as you can.
“Those can be security patches,” the software developer said. “A lot of things will tell you if you’re about to do something dangerous, Chrome, Internet Explorer, all have some strong warnings that will pop up so don’t ignore the warnings if they do come up.”
He also suggests being extra careful when using Wi-Fi at restaurants, malls and public venues.
He says hackers can disguise themselves as that company by using the name and then route all of your internet use through their system.
“If you ever see something that’s not a trusted certificate or not a secure SSL connection (secure sockets layer), you want to be sure to not continue to use the site,” the developer explained.
Thibault has gotten easier over the years so be sure to follow those tips to keep yourself safe.
He says companies are continuing to beef up security measures. Biometric authentication like fingerprint and face recognition are becoming more popular password methods. He says there are also companies that are emailing a one-time use password every time the user logs in making it nearly impossible for someone to hack the account.
For more tips and tricks, be sure to visit: http://staysafeonline.org/.
