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Home > Episodes > How Hacking Works and How to Protect Yourself
John P on GeekBeat Episode 645

How Hacking Works and How to Protect Yourself

May 14, 2013 by John P.

A Day in the Life of a Hacker

Hacking isn’t as simple as Hollywood would tell you. In reality there are a lot of different ways that data can be compromised – and it’s happening all around you.

Use Stronger Passwords

The easiest way to protect yourself is to have strong passwords. Mix uppercase, lower case, numerals, and special characters. And avoid words that can be found in a dictionary, or that have a significance to you someone else could guess!

Don’t Use the Same Password Everywhere

To make matters more complicated, you need to use different passwords for different services. That way if one login is stolen it doesn’t work for a criminal everywhere.

Watch Out for Third-Party Authentication

You may have given social media services like Facebook or Twitter permission to share your credentials with other services, like Klout. Review this list, and remove anything you’re not currently using.

Your Phone is Your Biggest Risk

Think about all the data on your phone. It has access to your email and social media, contains your contacts, photos, maybe even an unencrypted list of passwords. Keep it locked down and make sure you can remotely wipe its contents if you need to.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: computers, data security, hackers, hacking, malware, Mobility, Passwords

About John P.

John P. is CEO of Livid Lobster and co-host of Geek Beat TV. You can also find him on Twitter and Google+.

Comments

  1. wade lamkin says

    May 19, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    Just showed WC and Terry your video on hacking as an example of your work.
    They are impressed!!!!
    Love
    wade & linda

  2. Patrick Dickey says

    May 15, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    I’m posting this from a Facebook comment that I saw, because it really needs to be said here (credit goes to Mike Eber on Cali’s posting in Facebook).

    Please don’t portray Hacking like all the other media does. You guys are smarter than that. http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/hacker-vs-cracker/1400

  3. Charlie Indelicato says

    May 14, 2013 at 7:04 pm

    I have asked – nay, implored – my contacts that if they refuse to put a PIN on their smartphone or tablet AND have any personal data about me to please delete my info immediately.

    • John P. says

      May 14, 2013 at 9:35 pm

      Wow! Good point Charlie! I had forgotten that, but you also put other people’s info at risk with weak security too!

    • Robert Bigelow says

      May 16, 2013 at 10:58 am

      I don’t even OWN a smart phone or mobile-networked device, but I use a pass-code lock on my iPod Touch.

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