The latest in a long line of hacks, the popular Q&A site Quora is the latest company to lose data. Last week it came to light that over 100 million users have potentially had their login details hacked and are presumably now for sale on the dark net. As Dave’s Computers is dedicated to helping you protect your privacy, it’s a subject we are going to cover today.
The hack happened on 30 November and is covered on the Quora blog. The company also said they sent emails to registered users telling them to change passwords right away. I suggest you do this and then change any other logins for other websites or accounts where you use the same password.
Even though I suggest often to never use the same password twice, I acknowledge it is difficult to remember all of them. I’ll get to that in a minute though.
Quora hack
The Quora hack apparently affects over 100 million logins across the world. The data that has potentially been lost includes account names, passwords, data, email addresses, content, questions and answers, downvotes, direct messages and comments. If you’re a Quora user, you could have lost everything. It also includes any social data you allowed Quora access to from Facebook or anywhere.
Lost is perhaps the wrong word. Your data is still there, it just isn’t private now. It could be made freely available or be sold somewhere. Either way, if you’re a registered user and haven’t done it yet, change your password right now. Then change those other logins you use the same password for.
Managing multiple passwords
I know how difficult it is to create and remember the dozens of logins we use every day for apps, websites or whatever. That’s why I use and recommend everyone use a password manager. Sure your browser can remember passwords but it doesn’t generate good ones and is unlikely to be as secure as a dedicated password manager.
I use LastPass but there are others out there like 1Password, Dashlane, Password Boss, True Key, Keeper and Blur. There are dozens of options offering a range of features depending on your needs. Some are free while others are premium. The free products are just as secure as the paid-for ones, they just don’t offer as many features.
Make a judgment call about what password manager to use. Read reviews, try them out and settle on one you like. Paid or not, it doesn’t matter as long as it uses strong encryption and offers to suggest complex password as well as store them.
If you’re concerned or need help with computer security or anything to do with computers, the guys here at Dave’s Computers can help. Contact us to see what we can do for you!
