Frequently Asked Questions

Security Alert- Massive online data breach - please read

What happened?

Recently there has been a massive data breach that has been leaked online that contains email addresses and passwords from several major email providers and other sources. Link to the full story here.


How does this effect me?

Basically this can effect anyone. There is a potential your email address and passwords you use for any online service has been leaked. It doesn't mean that your accounts have been compromised (yet) but means there is a probability that hackers have a password you have once used online. If you use the same password in multiple places, this is even more important.


What do I do?

  1. You can check whether your accounts are compromised in this and other leaks at https://haveibeenpwned.com/. Enter your email address and it will let you know if that email is included in any known security breaches.
  2. If your email comes back as being on a compromised list, while that doesn't mean your current password for your email is compromised, its highly recommended that you change your email password.
  3. If you use the same password on multiple sites (bank, shopping, work..etc), its extremely important that you change your password on all of them and make them unique. DO NOT EVER REUSE THE SAME PASSWORD. While this may be inconvenient, its much  more convenient than having to deal with a compromised account which can lead to all sorts of worse problems. 
  4. It is highly recommended to enable 2-factor authentication on any online service that supports it. Also called MFA, (multi-factor authentication) it adds an additional step to access your account on top of just your password. For example, anytime you login to your email with a password it asks for an additional code or pin, the system will send you a text to your phone with that code. Each provider and online service may have different options to set this up. For example purposes, here is a link to a guide on how to do this for gmail
  5. If you use ANY password for your work email or computer login account that is also used anywhere else, it is extremely important that you change it to something unique. If you need assistance in changing your password, please contact me via email or slack

Do you need assistance or more explanation?

If you have any questions or want help setting up 2-factor authentication, please contact me via email (mdodge@eztechhelp.com) or slack

Categories: Security

 Last updated 01/19/2019 7:27 pm

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