Over the last 12 months, hackers have been targeting passwords of users through various resources on the Internet. In recent months, the following major websites have had their password databases stolen:
- LivingSocial (50 million accounts)
- Evernote (50 million accounts)
- Zappos (24 million accounts)
- LinkedIn (6.5 million accounts)
- eHarmony (1.5 million accounts)
- Last.fm (undisclosed but estimated at over 16 million)
These attacks highlight the need to keep isolated credentials. Make sure the passwords you use for College resources are unique, and not similar to any password you use for external resources. In addition, you should keep your Holy Cross network password unique from your Holy Cross Gmail password. This “isolation” of passwords ensures that if one were to be compromised, the other is not. Another smart step to take is to enroll in Gmail’s 2-Step Verification. This is optional, but it will make it substantially harder for someone to steal control of your College gmail account. Details on 2-Step Verification are found here:
http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=180744
If you have used any of the aforementioned websites over the last year, and your password on those sites is even remotely similar to your College network password or College Gmail password, you are really must change your passwords. You may do by visiting our website, going to the Login page, and clicking on the “Password Reset” link.