Uh oh.

Maybe that short phrase best sums up my feelings about the security of my computer and its accounts after reading this week’s articles.  I know excellent hackers exist and have heard of massive security breeches that have compromised a large number of passwords (I’m not sure I’d realized that those cases often involved millions of people). I had no idea, though, that hackers’ methods were so sophisticated as to be able to crack any password that contains a word that appears in the dictionary–English or otherwise.  I read Matt Honan’s horror story and was left wondering what I would I do if I found myself in that situation. (What could I do?) As Honan says, he got his information back a lot more quickly than I ever could have given his tech contacts at Google and Twitter.

As I read through Mason’s IT Security advice page, I was struck by two very different emotions: gratitude and complacency. I am grateful that the basic steps that I should take to better ensure my computer’s security are laid out in an organized, user-friendly way with a paragraph explaining why I should take the time to complete these tasks. The complacency exists because I am comfortable with my system as it is and don’t exactly look forward to making the necessary changes (even though they will be for my benefit!) I don’t like that feeling of complacency; it will hinder my security updates if I let it. It’s also, frankly, rather dumb, because I was once the victim of a hacking, and I  should be excited to prevent that from happening again to the best of my ability.

A few weeks into my freshman year, I used one of the JC Info Desk computers to check my e-mail between classes because I hadn’t been carrying my laptop. Bad idea. When I tried to check it that afternoon on my own computer, I couldn’t log in. IT Support had my computer for three days; when I got it back, I saw that someone had sent 5000 (yes, 5000!) spam e-mails to individuals and organizations all around the world. Though I received several interesting e-mails from people in China, Italy, and Spain in the next few days, I had come away largely unscathed. The IT guys were great, and though going without my computer then was a major inconvenience, the problem was resolved relatively easily. I can’t imagine having that happen now; going without my computer would be devastating for both academic and extracurricular activities.

So, in order to prevent being hacked again, I am taking Mason’s security tips to heart. I have a good deal to work on:

1. Activate a password-protected screen saver: check! Mine is protected. I’m one for seven!
2. Use strong passwords for all of your accounts: Hmm. I think I get a half a point for this. I have separate passwords for almost every account, and many of my passwords are made up of a pattern of letters and numbers that I remember (they contain no dictionary words). Many, though, simply have words with numbers attached to them. That’s something I should probably change soon. Honan suggests using a site to randomly generate passwords and keeping them safe in one location, like Dropbox. This might be hard to get used to, but it makes a lot of sense.
3. Automatically receive critical updates: I’ll have to look into this. As far as I know, my Windows updates are configured automatically; I get pop-ups relatively frequently saying that my updates have been installed. I’ve never used Internet Explorer to manually update my system.
4. Verify that anti-virus software is configured correctly: Again, I’ll have to look into this; Mason’s site says that I should have Norton’s Symantec software configured, but I use McAfee Anti-Virus software and receive daily updates. I’m not sure that there’s a need to use both.
5. Use anti-spy software: Again, one more thing I need to check on. I believe McAfee has an Ad-Aware feature, but I’m not using SpyBot.
6. Unique passwords for all user accounts: I’m the only user, and my “guest” feature is turned off. Two for seven (points that need no further research)! –>[not a great score, I know]
7. Back up files weekly: This is a major problem on my part. I’ve had an electronic post-it note on my desktop for months that says “Back up pictures and files!” But I haven’t. I need to make this a priority so that things that are really important to me–pictures and classwork–don’t end up being lost forever, much as Matt Honan feared his daughter’s baby pictures were.
8. Step A: Use Windows XP Professional: check!
9. Step B: Limit use of Internet Explorer: check! I prefer Firefox, thank you.

This week’s articles were sobering; who knows when something like the hack Honan experienced might happen to any of us? Armed with a checklist of ways I can start to improve my internet safety, though, I’m confident that I’ll at least be moving in the right direction.