The State Data Protection Inspectorate (SDPI) underlines that with personal data of each of us may occur some data security accidents. For this reason it is important to take care of the security of our data by ourselves. There are some tips in order to help us to protect our personal information.
CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD
Change immediately your password in the online services you are using (social network, online stores, online communications, etc.) and services related. You have not to use your old password. Passwords shall be changed each six months: this is an aspect very important for your online security.
Never use password as qwerty or 123456 and so on. You have to create passwords which are different for each service. Reusing passwords is bad. Websites can ask requirement for the password, like numbers, bold letters or symbols. Anyway, they can not prohibit users to use the same compromised password.
RETURN CONTROL OF YOUR ACCOUNTS
If you notice that more services that you are managing have been compromised, take back the control on them. A lot of online services have their own mechanisms in order to give back the account to the real owner when it is picked up by hackers.
Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo and so on have these mechanisms. Usually you have to reply to questions on your account. Facebook is using an alternative way in order to verify your identity with friends. As the last resource, you have to contact the local service office in order to take back your account.
Looking out for “OPEN” (Eng. Backdoor”)
It is possible that a hacker has already seen your account. An intelligent hacker will not only get your account. He will organize the return back by placing the necessary measures. For this reason, as soon as you take back the control of your accounts, you have to verify the presence of “backdoors” from which hackers can come back.
If this is an email, you have to control the settings: if the mail forwarding is set up, if anti-spam filters are deactivated and if replies to security questions in other accounts have been changed.
CONTROL YOUR FINANCES
Keep an eye on what happens to your accounts and the flow of funds through them. Make sure that no new shipping addresses, new payment methods or new accounts have been added to your billing accounts or accounts for online shops and other paid services. This is especially true for services that allow you to pay for your purchase with a single click.
REMOVE ALL SERVICES THAT ALLOW OPEN AUTHORISATION PROTOCOL
Google, Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox and many others support OAuth, an open authorisation protocol that allows third parties to grant limited access to protected user resources without the need to transfer your username and password to a third party.
Check and create a separate login with your user name and password or remove these services from your account.