The FBI is investigating the massive hack of Gawker Media. Reports indicate that FBI agents met with Gawker Media CEO Nick Denton on Monday following the hacking incident, which was claimed by a group called Gnosis. The Gawker website was paralyzed, temporarily forcing the gossip site to stop publishing.
Hackers managed to access over 100,000 passwords and emails from the 1.3 million registered users. The site was forced to stop publishing on Sunday and sent emails to all registered users, urging them to change their passwords. According to reports, Gawker Media CEO Nick Denton admitted, “We’re deeply embarrassed by this breach.”
Tips to Keep Your Passwords Safe Online
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Don’t Use the Same Password for Everything
Using one password for all your accounts is unsafe. If a hacker gets your password for one account, they can access all your online identities. -
Use Different Passwords for Different Accounts
Create and use strong, unique passwords for your online banking, blogging, social networks, etc. Good passwords are your first line of defense against hackers. -
Use One Password, but Customize for Each Site
You can generate easy-to-remember but secure passwords without using the same password for everything. Keep a common base for your password, then customize the “base” for each website.
Example of Customized Passwords
For example, if your base password is [rogue], then your Amazon.com password might be [rogueamzn]. Develop a rule where you use the first four letters of a service’s name or another mechanism. If that seems too easy for a hacker to figure out, develop a different rule. Perhaps use the first three vowels, scramble the letters in a way that's easy for you to remember, or work in special characters. Just ensure that you can remember your system and keep in mind different services have different password requirements – some require special characters, while others forbid them.
