Passwords Archives - Fighting Identity Crimes powered by EZShield

Why Are Fraudsters Targeting College Students?

By The EZShield Team in Personal Protection August 3, 2020 0 Comment

As summer starts winding down, there is uncertainty what “back to school” will look like this fall in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The news is continuously developing around whether students will be back in the classrooms, participating online, or doing a hybrid of the two. Either way, students will get back to learning, and as young adults go off to college it may open more than their minds to new ideas and doors to new opportunities; college may also open their eyes to issues often overlooked: experiencing identity theft and fraud. The 20 to 29 age group is most affected by identity theft, representing 33 percent of victims according to a 2019 Federal Trade Commission report.

Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat: 3 Data Privacy Tips

By Laura Bruck in Personal Protection May 7, 2018 0 Comment

Quick Links:

Snapchat – Know “Who Can See…” Your Data
Twitter – Require More to See More
Facebook – Take Control of Your Data Privacy

Social Media Privacy – Who’s Responsible?

Facebook’s recent data breach has sparked the question amongst all social media users: Whose responsibility is it to protect my data on social media sites?

Much of the tension caused by data breach events stem from a user’s loss of trust. When information that is assumed to be protected by a company or service has been compromised, the finger pointing begins.

Businesses feel the initial impact of data breach events through the massive financial losses, fines and hit to their reputation. Consumers, on the other hand, are left with the end results that come with data breaches – specifically fraud, identity theft and other identity crimes.

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1.4B Credentials Dumped, Dark Web Database Found

By John Burcham in Breach and Scam News December 20, 2017 2 Comments

From Data Dump to Dark Web Database

On Dec. 5, 2017, a massive database with data from over 300 data breaches was discovered on the Dark Web. This Dark Web database contains over 1.4 billion unique clear text, or publicly viewable, login credentials, which experts have confirmed are legitimate pairings.

To make a long story short, 41GB of publicly viewable data was dumped on the Dark Web. From there, the information became accessible via a “Dark Web database,” allowing hackers to search the aggregated data by password type, user, breach event and more.

Unlike a single data breach event, this database aggregates breached data from hundreds of big-name data breaches like Netflix, LinkedIn, Minecraft and Bitcoin. The database is even more concerning because the information was found in clear text – meaning that anyone with access to it can view it. Continue reading

Passwords: The Keys To Your Online Life

By John Burcham in Personal Protection May 5, 2017 2 Comments

When’s the last time you thought about your passwords? With over 90 billion passwords in existence today, the overall shift to online platforms and the boom in social media usage have made passwords an integral part of our daily online lives.

Whether it’s connecting to a game with a Facebook profile, sharing Netflix credentials with a roommate, or asking a spouse to check a bank account statement, sharing our passwords has become a trend that we don’t often realize is putting our information at risk.

Are we really expected to have a separate password for each of our numerous online accounts – and do all of them have to be ridiculously long, confusing and hard to remember? We’re instructed not to write them down or keep them on our mobile devices so… how are we supposed to keep track of them?