Not sure what to make of this... for all the complaining about the lousy service I get from Tracfone they have but my email address.
Wondering if I should go look at the list of passwords I have, and think about changing them.
AT&T Hacked?
- Thread starter supton
- Start date
Not sure what to make of this... for all the complaining about the lousy service I get from Tracfone they have but my email address.
Wondering if I should go look at the list of passwords I have, and think about changing them.
always a good idea.. and use a password manager so you can use complex passwords such as
^P%74oYw%8@t9*zGMwNm
and only have to remember 1 password.. I recommend bitwarden(free)
you just have to remember the master password.(which I change every 6 months)
^P%74oYw%8@t9*zGMwNm
and only have to remember 1 password.. I recommend bitwarden(free)
you just have to remember the master password.(which I change every 6 months)
twouvakind
Site Donor 2024
Or a "complex" passphrase like
Vastly1-Cornflake2
Vastly1-Cornflake2
The difference between AT&T and Tracfone is pre-pay and post-pay so AT&T is extending credit. I don't remember giving Verizon my SSN but that was over 15 years ago now. And I transferred off of my mom's plan to my own.
Agreed
And with Log In with Device, you don't even have to remember your master password.
And then be sure to throw 2FA on top of that.
However, I firmly believe that it's just a matter of time before everyone has some level of information out there, if that's not already the case. I also firmly believe that we need to get to a point where it doesn't matter if someone has our SSN. I'm not sure how common it was in the 60s/70s but my Uncle engraved his SSN on a SLR camera body for identification. Makes me think it used to not matter as much as it does now.
Gotcha. So that's what caused the nationwide AT&T outage on February 22nd?
I received an email this past weekend to change my PW. ATT suspects the breach occurred at third party vendor rather than their own systems. The big issue with this type of breach is that the people use the same PW across many platforms.
And how do the password managers manage to not get hacked? Seems like they would be prime targets.
Late 90's I recall using my SSN as my student ID in college. I questioned it back then. But the internet was still pretty new and all.
You're right, they're prime targets.
However, password managers tend to have the toughest security algorithms out there because their business is security. Add on that many require a 2nd factor for authentication, it makes it much more difficult to crack into it.
Unless they do something as boneheaded as LastPass did the other year where an employee had raw vaults on his device for "testing" and then that person got hacked and the hackers got raw vaults with only password security, no 2FA. So all it took was cracking a password to access someone's vault which really isn't that hard with the right tools, no matter how complicated it is.
The big issue is you only hear about the hacks they find out about. A good hacker covers his tracks so well that the company never realizes they were there or for "Security Reasons" the company will not reveal they were hacked. You always have to be on guard but the fact is that the term Internet Security or Cyber Security is more of a wish than a reality.
And your at home internet?
AT&T doesn't have home internet in the northeast but good point. My mind went to wireless service. We are Comcast/Verizon country. I have Fiber from a company called Glo/Shentel
Password managers have been hacked in the past also.
I always laugh when my dentist, doctor etc want my SS number. I tell them to shove it and if they insist I move on. The cancelling of my business usually causes them to re-think their policy. I don't need my SS available to anyone at the dentist office. 'em!
Nothing is perfect.
I know people who use passwords such as Pass1word$ I'mRetired44 etc.
but when you need 20 or 30 passwords and have to change and remember them good luck and use a book I guess.
Bitwarden is a good mix of security and easy of use. Unless you are head of goverment target or Major CEO with a team of hackers or foreign country working on you.. it will suffice.
One can use an algorithm to pick a complex password that aids in remembering it. Here's an example (but not one I use). It's long enough to never be brute forced and is never going to show up in a rainbow table. (Rainbow tables are lists of hashed passwords that can be used to radically speed up cryptographic attacks if a database of logins is ever compromised.)
[SiteOrInstitutionName][YearOfSomeEvent][Adjective][Noun][SpecialCharacter]
BITOG1869PinkAvocado$
[SiteOrInstitutionName][YearOfSomeEvent][Adjective][Noun][SpecialCharacter]
BITOG1869PinkAvocado$
Yet your insurer has your SSN
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