Five Things We Can Learn from the Yahoo Data Breach

The massive Yahoo data breach was the biggest data hack in history, leaving the sensitive information of over 500 million users exposed. Below are five valuable lessons to take from this catastrophic event in cybersecurity, which has left many wondering about the future of online privacy.

1)     Protect Your Password, Protect Your Privacy

We’ll spare you the monotonous lesson on password etiquette and instead address the issue of password apathy. With the growing demand for personal logins and passwords on each individual website, whether it be used to file taxes or to order pizza, consumers are now forced to either memorize a myriad of credentials for an endless number of websites, or go against the advice of most data security experts by using the same password for different sites.

The obvious risk here is that if hackers were to access one account, then they could access several. Many find it to be a worthy risk, as the annoyance of resetting a password at every login has become a nuisance in our high-speed Wi-Fi culture. To those people, we say: at least break it up a little more. Instead of using the same credentials all around, why not meet in-between and have clusters of credentials for grouped sites? At least it will make the hacker’s job a little tougher, which brings us to our next point.

2)     No Online Security System is Impermeable

While Yahoo! has been experiencing a decline in the past few years, the skill of the hackers behind the Yahoo data breach is not to be underestimated. And perhaps the more important point here is not the talent of these hackers, but the sheer numbers of them and the growing amount of massive data hacks in recent years, including MySpace, eBay, Anthem, Sony, Dropbox, Target, JP Morgan Chase, the US Military and our own voter database.
Still think your Google account is unbreakable?

3)     Online Privacy is More Important Than Ever

The Internet has enabled people worldwide to access the information they need with just a few keystrokes. This includes accessing information that you may not want others to see.

So you don’t have any photos or articles online that would paint you in a negative light? Great, what about your phone number, addresses and more that are shared publicly on data aggregate sites?

Online privacy is about more than reputation protection, it’s also about your sensitive details that can fall into the wrong hands. And in the case of the Yahoo data breach, the sensitive details of over half a billion people were the collected commodity.

4)     There are Ways to Protect Your Information Online

Aside from smart password protocol, what else can you do to protect your private information? The best way to find out is by performing a Google search of your name to see what pops up. Make sure to look at all the results on the first few pages to see if there is anything you wouldn’t want total strangers to find out about you (if applicable).

5)     InternetReputation.com Offers Privacy Protection

As a leader in online privacy protection for over five years, InternetReputation.com is a one-stop-shop for all of your privacy protection and online monitoring needs. We will give you access to a privacy monitoring portal that allows you to see every time your name is mentioned online. This will help you identify what security threats are lurking around your online information, and give you the proper time to act.