How to protect yourself and your personal information from hackers | David Moon

Computer hacking has become so prevalent that it has almost become part of the background noise of life. In a recent SEC filing, AT&T disclosed that hackers had stolen six months of call and text message records of nearly every one of its customers’ 127 million devices. Initially, the hackers demanded $1 million to delete the data, but deft AT&T negotiators whittled the figure down to less than $400,000. To ensure that the hackers wouldn’t continue blackmailing the company after paying the ransom, AT&T officials required the hackers to provide a video of them deleting the files as a condition of payment.

It isn’t known if AT&T also required the hackers to pinkie swear they didn’t make copies.

The hackers gained access to the AT&T data through a third-party cloud storage provider, Snowflake. According to Wired.com, the same hackers compromised the customer data of as many as 150 companies – including LendingTree, Santander Bank and Ticketmaster – simply because none of these companies enabled two-factor authorization to log into their corporate cloud storage accounts.

A quick search on The Google will yield plenty of articles listing “the top 10 ways to protect your data from hackers,” but most people won’t follow any of them. Only a handful of tech nerds will ever use 23 randomly selected ancient hieroglyphic characters as a password. But that’s OK. There are still some simple steps this nontechnical person recommends to protect yourself.

I’ve never seen this suggestion on a list, but I start with the assumption that my data is going to eventually be stolen (again). There is nothing I can personally do to prevent Disney from leaking my ESPN+ account information to crooks. While I don’t mind a Russian hacker knowing my ESPN username, I would prefer he not use the credit card I use to autopay for the service. This is why it is critical that you review every transaction on all your bank and credit cards. Ideally weekly. It is so easy today that there’s no reason not to.

If a service offers two-factor authentication, use it. Even if sent to you by someone you know, never click on links if you don’t recognize the web address. Don’t download an attachment unless you are expecting it and are familiar with the file type.

If you don’t use a password manager, you probably aren’t going to create unique passwords for all your accounts and apps, either. If not, at least use a different password for every bank and credit card account. And change them on a regular, predetermined schedule.

? Earlier this month, I wrote that today's political divisions are tame by historical standards. I stand corrected and apologize.

David Moon, president of Moon Capital Management, may be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: David Moon: How to protect your personal information from hackers