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Why not use same password everywhere? Gawker shows us.
- TAGS:419, authentication, e-mail, email, enterprise, Gawker, Insider Content, Nigerian, password, password cracking, passwords, Spanish Prisoner, strong authentication, yahoo mail
- IT TOPICS:Cybercrime & Hacking, Government & Regulation, Internet, Privacy, Security, Security Hardware & Software, Web Apps
Gawker Media hack causes my friends to receive scammy begging email "from" me. Moral: don't forget about old email accounts when managing password risk.
By Richi Jennings. December 14, 2010.
The recent hack of Gawker Media's user database had a few people tsk-tsk'ing at that publication's security skills. Or lack of them. But that's just a pile of low-value blog comment accounts -- is there a greater worry we're missing? Are high-value enterprise accounts also at risk as a result? Here's a personal story of being hacked as a direct result of the Gawker compromise, in The Long View...
We all have tens, perhaps hundreds of separate accounts across the Internet. It would be impossible to keep track of all of them without using the same password. One solution is something like LastPass, but it adds a level of complexity that most users aren't going to bother with. But if ever there was a perfect illustration of why it's a bad idea to use the same password across different sites, it's this.
Here's my own cautionary tale. My Gawker account was compromised, and scammers emailed all my friends to tell them I was stuck in Spain with no money. Yes, it's the classic Spanish Prisoner scam again.
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