How Not to Become Mat Honan: A Short Primer on Online Security

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By now, you've probably read or heard about Wired staff writer Mat Honan's journey through digital hell, in which hackers social-engineered Apple into giving them the keys to his digital life, allowing them to scrub his laptop, iPhone and iPad, hijack his and Gizmodo's Twitter accounts and delete eight-years-worth of email from his Gmail account.
How Not to Become Mat Honan: A Short Primer on Online Security | Threat Level | Wired.com

Joe Mobley
#honan #mat #online #primer #security #short
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Question: Do you use your high school as the "secret question" anywhere? If so, is it listed on your Facebook or LinkedIn profile?

    If someone got into your .ME or Gmail address, could they use the password reminder function to also get into your Paypal or other financial accounts?

    Do you use the same passwords in multiple accounts?

    Stuff to think about...


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    • Profile picture of the author Dan Curtis
      If you have gmail you should have it backed up. Even if you don't get hacked Google occasionally loses some data.

      The easiest way that I know to back up gmail is to set up Mozilla Thunderbird on your computer. Then all your messages and your entire folder structure will be on your computer as well as on Google's servers.

      Now, I realize that Mat Honan also had his laptop scrubbed. That is why offsite backup is necessary. I use Carbonite for my home computers and Mozy for my office server and I have used them both to replace files that would have otherwise been lost.
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