Google CEO's Password Hacked; Is Your's Safe?

Just to make sure it’s clear that if high profile people are not safe from hackers neither are you, a group called OurMine has now hacked the Quroa password of Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Recently, the same group hacked the passwords of the CEOs of FaceBook and Spotify. And  because Pichai’s Google account was linked to his Twitter account, they also Tweeted on his behalf about the incident.

This emphasizes not only how important it is to have strong passwords (FaceBooks’ Zuckerberg’s was famously easy), but also that it is worth consideration as to whether or not you want to link your online accounts to each other. For example, many sites allow users to log in using their FaceBook accounts. This means that if the associated FaceBook account is hacked, so also can be those linked accounts, as happened to Pichai. Most security professional would advise against this.

When choosing passwords, use non-dictionary words. Make sure they are at least eight characters in length and use a combination of upper and lower case letters as well as numbers. Don’t forget to add a special character or two, such as “%” or “*” in them. The goal is to make them impossible for someone to guess. If you must write them down, keep them in a safe location out of plain sight. Never keep them in electronic form on your computer. If possible, don’t write down the passwords, but use hints. Use unique passwords for all online accounts. This prevents other accounts from being accessed with the same password, should one of them get stolen. This strategy works a surprisingly number of times for those with ill intent. Password reuse has been blamed for numerous incidents including the Sony breach of last year and more recently Spotify, TaxAct, and FitBit.

Make sure you change your passwords frequently. It is generally recommended that you do this at least quarterly. Some login credentials for sites such as LinkedIn and Tumblr were recently found posted for sale on the dark web. However, they were thought to be years old. If you change your passwords regularly and your old account information is stolen, you don’t have to hurry to change them because you probably already have done so a few times.

While this hacking group claims to merely be demonstrating how easy it is to crack passwords, others may not be so polite. It’s worth a bit of your time to care for your passwords.