{"id":11542,"date":"2020-02-11T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/stage\/?p=11542"},"modified":"2020-02-06T21:13:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T04:13:44","slug":"was-your-email-account-exposed-in-a-data-breach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/was-your-email-account-exposed-in-a-data-breach\/","title":{"rendered":"Was Your Email Account Exposed in a Data Breach?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.0pt;\"><button class=\"responsivevoice-button\" type=\"button\" title=\"ResponsiveVoice Tap to Start\/Stop Speech\" data-rvtts-action=\"speak\" data-rvtts-text=\"As we all know too well, hacking and data breaches are a daily occurrence these days. It&#039;s important that you don&#039;t let this reality make you lose hope. To protect your privacy and security, you should proactively take measures that will prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft. In this article I will share some tips that will allow you to monitor your email account to find out if it has been compromised in a data breach and offer some guidelines for protecting your online identity. Because phishing is responsible for a vast majority of cyberattacks and 76% of the businesses reported being a victim of a phishing attack last year, it&#039;s imperative that you learn to protect your email and follow these simple guidelines to minimize the risk of being a victim. Make sure your computer has an anti-malware software installed. Windows 10 already includes Windows Defender, Macs usually don&#039;t have one so you need to install one. Do not disable your computer&#039;s firewall. Luckily, Windows 10 and Macs already include a builtin firewall. Watch out for suspicious emails, links, and attachments to prevent being a victim of a phishing attack. Use a password manager to store your passwords. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect your account whenever possible. Don&#039;t store passwords in your web browser, use a password manager instead. Backup your data regularly. This will come handy in case of a ransomware attack. Guidelines for Protecting Your Online Identity You will find a lot of websites documenting online safety tips. For some basic steps to protect your identity online, check out this PC Magazine article. Here are some additional tips that I recommend. These guidelines are primarily focused on email safety. Following these suggestions will make a huge difference in enhancing your online safety. Use one email (e.g. BillGates@Contoso.com) for government sites (irs.gov, ssa.gov, nih.gov, va.gov, etc.), financial institutions, hospitals, etc. They are unlikely to share your email with third-party vendors because of the regulations they have to follow. Use a different email address (e.g. BillGates1@Contoso.com) for friends and family members because you know they are going to forward it to others in an email blast and there isn&#039;t much you can do about that. Use masked emails as throw away email accounts to sign up for newsletters, online purchases, and especially for social networking sites. These are email aliases that you can create on the fly and you can send and receive messages normally from your email of choice (e.g. BillGates1@Contoso.com), except that the recipient will never know your real email address. If someone spams you, one simple click will permanently block them. One of the most popular tool for masked emails is a web browser extension called BLUR. You can also use disposable emails as I explain in this article, which serves a slightly different purpose. If you use a password manager, you never have to remember these masked emails and can manage them easily in BLUR\u2019s database. Use a password manager and make sure that the same password is not used at a different site, so if your email is compromised in a data breach, the access will be limited to only one site. Let your password manager generate a strong password. For example, if you use Office 365, generate a 100+ character password. I use 256-character passwords for my Office 365 accounts. Gmail also allows 100-character passwords. If you store your password in a password manager, you never have to memorize it so the length of the password won&#039;t have a negative impact. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) whenever possible. Your password will be the first factor used for authentication. I recommend using Microsoft Authenticator app as a second factor for authentication. If your email account has been compromised in a data breach, change your password immediately. How Do I Know if My Personal Information Was Compromised? Wouldn&#039;t it be great if there was a website that would tell you if your private information was exposed in a data breach? Companies like Premera Blue Cross and Equifax, that are known for their cover ups after they were hacked, may not tell you right away if your confidential information is compromised. Luckily, there is a website that is useful in determining whether your email was compromised. It&#039;s called Have I Been Pwned? It was created by Microsoft MVP Troy Hunt. Troy offers this website as a free service that gathers information from data breaches and helps people determine if they&#039;ve been impacted by malicious activity on the Internet. In case you are wondering, the word pwned simply means compromised. To find out if your personal information was exposed in a data breach, go to Have I Been Pwned? and enter your email. If your account is compromised, it will let you know when and where. You can also click on the Notify me link on the top menu and enter your email. You will be notified if your email account is compromised in a future pwnage. Similarly, you can use domain search and find out if email addresses on a specific domain have been exposed in a domain breach and get notified if they appear in breaches in the future. You can even enter your password to find out if it was exposed in a data breach. Check out this website and let your family and friends know if they have been pwned. Additional Reading Here are some related articles that you may find helpful. Selecting a Password Manager The Advantages of Using a Password Manager Password Recommendations for Microsoft Accounts Comparison of Google and Microsoft Authenticator Apps Looking for a Free Disposable Email Service? Try 10MinuteMail Thanks for reading my article. If you are interested in IT training &amp; consulting services, please reach out to me. Visit ZubairAlexander.com for information on my professional background. Copyright \u00a9 2020 SeattlePro Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.\" data-rvtts-voice=\"US English Male\"><svg class=\"rvtts-icon\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 22 22\" fill=\"currentColor\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11 0C4.92345 0 0 4.92345 0 11C0 13.2683 0.690345 15.3772 1.86621 17.1221L0.811724 21.0517L4.70345 20.0124C6.48621 21.2641 8.65586 22 11 22C17.0766 22 22 17.0766 22 11C22 4.92345 17.0766 0 11 0ZM3.99793 9.99862C3.99793 9.44483 4.44552 8.99724 4.99931 8.99724C5.5531 8.99724 6.00069 9.44483 6.00069 9.99862V12.0014C6.00069 12.5552 5.5531 13.0028 4.99931 13.0028C4.44552 13.0028 3.99793 12.5552 3.99793 12.0014V9.99862ZM8.99724 13.9966C8.99724 14.5503 8.54966 14.9979 7.99586 14.9979C7.44207 14.9979 6.99448 14.5503 6.99448 13.9966V7.99586C6.99448 7.44207 7.44207 6.99448 7.99586 6.99448C8.54966 6.99448 8.99724 7.44207 8.99724 7.99586V13.9966ZM12.0014 17.0007C12.0014 17.5545 11.5538 18.0021 11 18.0021C10.4462 18.0021 9.99862 17.5545 9.99862 17.0007V4.99931C9.99862 4.44552 10.4462 3.99793 11 3.99793C11.5538 3.99793 12.0014 4.44552 12.0014 4.99931V17.0007ZM14.9979 13.9966C14.9979 14.5503 14.5503 14.9979 13.9966 14.9979C13.4428 14.9979 12.9952 14.5503 12.9952 13.9966V7.99586C12.9952 7.44207 13.4428 6.99448 13.9966 6.99448C14.5503 6.99448 14.9979 7.44207 14.9979 7.99586V13.9966ZM18.0021 12.0014C18.0021 12.5552 17.5545 13.0028 17.0007 13.0028C16.4469 13.0028 15.9993 12.5552 15.9993 12.0014V9.99862C15.9993 9.44483 16.4469 8.99724 17.0007 8.99724C17.5545 8.99724 18.0021 9.44483 18.0021 9.99862V12.0014Z\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"responsivevoice-button__label\">Listen to Post<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<p>As we all know too well, hacking and data breaches are a daily occurrence these days. It&#8217;s important that you don&#8217;t let this reality make you lose hope. To protect your privacy and security, you should proactively take measures that will prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft. In this article I will share some tips that will allow you to monitor your email account to find out if it has been compromised in a data breach and offer some guidelines for protecting your online identity.<\/p>\n<p>Because phishing is responsible for a vast majority of cyberattacks and 76% of the businesses reported being a victim of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phishprotection.com\/resources\/phishing-prevention-best-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">phishing attack<\/a> last year, it&#8217;s imperative that you learn to protect your email and follow these simple guidelines to minimize the risk of being a victim.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure your computer has an anti-malware software installed. Windows 10 already includes Windows Defender, Macs usually don&#8217;t have one so you need to install one.<\/li>\n<li>Do not disable your computer&#8217;s firewall. Luckily, Windows 10 and Macs already include a builtin firewall.<\/li>\n<li>Watch out for suspicious emails, links, and attachments to prevent being a victim of a phishing attack.<\/li>\n<li>Use a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/selecting-a-password-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">password manager<\/a> to store your passwords.<\/li>\n<li>Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect your account whenever possible.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t store passwords in your web browser, use a password manager instead.<\/li>\n<li>Backup your data regularly. This will come handy in case of a ransomware attack.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Guidelines for Protecting Your Online Identity<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You will find a lot of websites documenting online safety tips. For some basic steps to protect your identity online, check out this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmag.com\/how-to\/10-essential-steps-for-protecting-your-identity-online\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PC Magazine article<\/a>. Here are some additional tips that I recommend. These guidelines are primarily focused on email safety. Following these suggestions will make a huge difference in enhancing your online safety.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Use one email (e.g. BillGates@Contoso.com) for government sites (irs.gov, ssa.gov, nih.gov, va.gov, etc.), financial institutions, hospitals, etc. They are unlikely to share your email with third-party vendors because of the regulations they have to follow.<\/li>\n<li>Use a different email address (e.g. BillGates1@Contoso.com) for friends and family members because you know they are going to forward it to others in an email blast and there isn&#8217;t much you can do about that.<\/li>\n<li>Use masked emails as throw away email accounts to sign up for newsletters, online purchases, and especially for social networking sites. These are email aliases that you can create on the fly and you can send and receive messages normally from your email of choice (e.g. BillGates1@Contoso.com), except that the recipient will never know your real email address. If someone spams you, one simple click will permanently block them. One of the most popular tool for masked emails is a web browser extension called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abine.com\/blog\/2018\/create-disposable-email-part-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BLUR<\/a>. You can also use disposable emails as I explain in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/looking-for-a-free-disposable-email-service-try-10minutemail\/\">this article<\/a>, which serves a slightly different purpose. If you use a password manager, you never have to remember these masked emails and can manage them easily in BLUR\u2019s database.<\/li>\n<li>Use a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/selecting-a-password-manager\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">password manager<\/a> and make sure that the same password is not used at a different site, so if your email is compromised in a data breach, the access will be limited to only one site.<\/li>\n<li>Let your password manager generate a strong password. For example, if you use Office 365, generate a 100+ character password. I use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/password-recommendations-for-microsoft-accounts\/\">256-character passwords<\/a> for my Office 365 accounts. Gmail also allows 100-character passwords. If you store your password in a password manager, you never have to memorize it so the length of the password won&#8217;t have a negative impact.<\/li>\n<li>Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) whenever possible. Your password will be the first factor used for authentication. I recommend using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/comparison-of-google-and-microsoft-authenticator-apps\/\">Microsoft Authenticator<\/a> app as a second factor for authentication.<\/li>\n<li>If your email account has been compromised in a data breach, change your password immediately.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4><strong>How Do I Know if My Personal Information Was Compromised?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Wouldn&#8217;t it be great if there was a website that would tell you if your private information was exposed in a data breach? Companies like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/five-major-mistakes-made-by-equifax-after-the-security-breach\/\">Premera Blue Cross and Equifax,<\/a> that are known for their cover ups after they were hacked, may not tell you right away if your confidential information is compromised. Luckily, there is a website that is useful in determining whether your email was compromised. It&#8217;s called <a href=\"https:\/\/haveibeenpwned.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Have I Been Pwned?<\/a> It was created by Microsoft MVP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.troyhunt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Troy Hunt<\/a>. Troy offers this website as a free service that gathers information from data breaches and helps people determine if they&#8217;ve been impacted by malicious activity on the Internet. In case you are wondering, the word <em>pwned<\/em> simply means compromised.<\/p>\n<p>To find out if your personal information was exposed in a data breach, go to <a href=\"https:\/\/haveibeenpwned.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Have I Been Pwned?<\/a> and enter your email. If your account is compromised, it will let you know when and where. You can also click on the <strong>Notify me<\/strong> link on the top menu and enter your email. You will be notified if your email account is compromised in a future pwnage. Similarly, you can use domain search and find out if email addresses on a specific domain have been exposed in a domain breach and get notified if they appear in breaches in the future. You can even enter your password to find out if it was exposed in a data breach.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11544\" src=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hibp.png\" alt=\"Have I Been Pwned?\" width=\"950\" height=\"678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hibp.png 950w, https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hibp-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hibp-768x548.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Check out this website and let your family and friends know if they have been pwned.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Additional Reading<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Here are some related articles that you may find helpful.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/selecting-a-password-manager\/\">Selecting a Password Manager<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/the-advantages-of-using-a-password-manager\/\">The Advantages of Using a Password Manager<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/password-recommendations-for-microsoft-accounts\/\">Password Recommendations for Microsoft Accounts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/comparison-of-google-and-microsoft-authenticator-apps\/\">Comparison of Google and Microsoft Authenticator Apps<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/looking-for-a-free-disposable-email-service-try-10minutemail\/\">Looking for a Free Disposable Email Service? Try 10MinuteMail<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color: #e3e3e3; text-align: left;\">Thanks for reading my article. If you are interested in IT training &amp; consulting services, please reach out to me. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ZubairAlexander.com<\/a> for information on my professional background.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-small; font-family: Verdana;\">Copyright \u00a9 2020 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattlepro.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SeattlePro Enterprises, LLC<\/a>. All rights reserved.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we all know too well, hacking and data breaches are a daily occurrence these days. It&#8217;s important that you don&#8217;t let this reality make you lose hope. To protect your privacy and security, you should proactively take measures that will prevent you from becoming a victim of identity theft. In this article I will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,78,24,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-privacy","category-security","category-tips-tricks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we all know too well, hacking and data breaches are a daily occurrence these days. It&#039;s important that you don&#039;t let this reality make you lose hope. 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In this article I will\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zubair Alexander\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"google-site-verification\" content=\"xUGSODobCBguuxTNOCWOCVwAIhfY39LLtYAQOmExYzw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"msvalidate.01\" content=\"65829CD0C3C810D64E58EA860413DB21\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zubairalexander.com\/blog\/was-your-email-account-exposed-in-a-data-breach\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alexander&#039;s Blog | Sharing knowledge with the global IT community since November 1, 2004\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Was Your Email Account Exposed in a Data Breach? | Alexander&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we all know too well, hacking and data breaches are a daily occurrence these days. 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