2020 Did you know some of your passwords could be up for sale on the dark web?
Perhaps you’ve not heard of the dark web before. It’s a part of the internet that you’ve most likely never been to.
You can’t access it via a normal browser, like Chrome or Firefox. No, you need a special browser. And trust us, it’s not somewhere you want to go.
Because the dark web is where criminals go to sell and buy illegal stuff. Guns, drugs… and data. Specifically, your data.
Recent research has shown there are now 15 billion passwords available on the dark web.
We believe that virtually everyone in Birmingham has had at least one password stolen at some point. And they will all be there on the dark web.
Most of them are available free; although highly desirable logins such as banking details, can be sold for up to £55 each.
Passwords and login details are stolen all the time, when hackers break into large companies’ systems and download huge databases.
Did you see, Garmin suffered a very high profile hack last month?
If your password is stolen and you use the same password across multiple systems, that’s when you can quickly get into really big problems.
If hackers can use stolen data to get into one system used by you, they can sometimes leverage this to get into other systems.
The worst thing they can do is access your email, as this lets them reset passwords and monitor all your communications.
There are three things you really must do to protect yourself:
- First, you should use a different randomly generated password for every login
- And second, set up 2 factor authentication where available
- And third, use a password manager to keep track of all these passwords for you
This is basic advice we give to our clients all the time. And then we help them implement it correctly.
If you would like more information on how to implement the above then we would love to hear from you by calling 0121 663 0203 or email hello@synium.co.uk
