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I almost lost my entire online identity – until one tool made all the difference
If you didn’t know already, now you do – it’s Data Privacy Week (January 27th to 31st)! The brainchild of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, it aims to arm you with everything you need to spot and avoid the biggest risks to your data privacy and “Take control of your data”.
If I thought losing my beach body over the festive break was bad enough, I nearly lost a whole lot more recently, my entire online identity, in fact.
I'm no stranger to a data breach. I was hit by the Yahoo! breach back in 2013, and a number of smaller incidents since – I'm looking at you Roll20 – and I had come to the realization that, however hard I try, nothing I have online will be safe.
The thing is, this time was different. None of my multiple alert systems had warned me. There were no new alerts. Nothing. But there they were, tens of emails from the likes of LinkedIn, Outlook, and EA, all saying one thing: I'd requested to change my password, which, of course, I hadn't.
Who'd want to impersonate me? Or, worse, see the terrible state of my FC 25 Ultimate Team? No clue, but it could've been a whole lot worse if it wasn't for a few simple, and free, steps.
An unwanted truth
If I lay my cybersecurity habits bare for a second, I'm awful with passwords. No, I'm not using Password123 or anything to secure my most private information, but I don't create something closer to Klingon to ensure my life remains safe. Maybe I should?
The reality is the simpler the password, the less time, if any, it'll take to crack. What's worse, once a password is compromised, it could be used again and again on different accounts by hackers. The most popular passwords of 2024 could all be cracked in under a second and, while none of mine are on that list, my history with data breaches suggests it mightn't have taken a hacker much longer.
In this instance, I'd tried everything from patterns to vegetables to war ideologies – because why not – so something was finally going to have to give. At least, this time, that something was free.
A simple (and free) solution
It's easy to pontificate about simple ways to improve your online security but this one is easily achievable and probably tops the lot. While the best VPNs, best antivirus software, and the like will set you back your precious dollars, a password manager can be completely free and might be all you need to keep your data safe.
Right now, we rate Bitwarden as the best free password manager out there, but bending the concept of "free" is a better shout. Many of the best security programs, such as VPNs and antivirus software, now come with a password manager included – and far too many customers aren't using them!
The key benefit of a password manager is that you don't need to stress about going full-goldfish and forgetting all your passwords. By setting up a password manager on your devices, you can not only access all of your – now hopefully extremely unique – passwords whenever you need, but you also can update them in one click when a website might require you to.
Doing the security two-step
Now, I never mention actually being breached when telling my tales of woe. As it happens, none of my services have ever been completely compromised. The reason? Two-factor authentication.
I know, it's a pain in the backside – why willing add yet another set of phone notifications? But 2FA really can stop you from losing everything. By combining two-step authentication and a password manager, not only are you warned of any unwanted attempts to access your accounts, but you also have an easy way to store a new unique password that'll rescue your data.
Don't be me
It's simpler than you think to avoid a situation like mine – and I wish I'd known that sooner. While not all solutions are free, it doesn't have to cost you a fortune to keep your online life as secure as possible.
A great example of this is Proton's Proton Unlimited plan. This plan gives you a complete bundle of protection including secure email, password management, and secure cloud storage. A Proton Unlimited plan starts from $9.99/month which, despite appearing costly, is very good value given the quality of the products included.
To my dearest hackers
So, to the people in Vietnam, Tapei, and various other places where I'd apparently attempted to log in, sorry! You've got a few more steps to get through to become me than you might like, and I didn't have to pay for any of them! Hopefully, now that I've told my story, I won't be alone in being a tough nut to crack.
