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Help - someone broke in my computer

T

TheDen


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I don't know what to do. I have a Mac Book Pro and was told I didn't need a virus killer. Today I could not get into my email account and now cannot get into 3 different bank accounts. My Net flix account also sent me an email that I had watch a movie that I never watched. I an fantic and don't know what to do.

Denise
 
chscag

chscag

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A virus has nothing to do with your problems. Someone has stolen your password(s) and possibly changed it (them). You had better contact your bank by phone and also someone at Netflix and let them know.
 
OP
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TheDen


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How did they get them and how do I prevent it from happening again?
Thanks for your help
Den
 
chscag

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If you used a weak password, it would be easy to crack. The best protection is a program like 1Password which can generate and memorize all your passwords. And change your passwords at least several times or more a year.
 
Steve Austin

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TheDen said:
How did they get them and how do I prevent it from happening again?
Thanks for your help
Den
Click to expand...

Its possible its someone you know maybe a friend, family member or work colleague perhaps.

Once you get it sorted out, change all your passwords for all accounts you have and make them strong, as mentioned, 1Password is a great app for doing this sort of thing.

Also, never tell ANYONE your passwords.

Good luck.
 
cwa107

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chscag said:
If you used a weak password, it would be easy to crack. The best protection is a program like 1Password which can generate and memorize all your passwords. And change your passwords at least several times or more a year.
Click to expand...

At the very least don't use one password for everything. And if your password doesn't contain any changes of case, and a mix of numbers and special characters (like $%&*(_!@ ), it's extremely easy to crack.
 
BrianLachoreVPI

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Steve Austin said:
Its possible its someone you know maybe a friend, family member or work colleague perhaps.

Once you get it sorted out, change all your passwords for all accounts you have and make them strong, as mentioned, 1Password is a great app for doing this sort of thing.

Also, never tell ANYONE your passwords.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Actually - change all of your passwords immediately - and then set about trying to get everything sorted out. Will help mitigate the extent of the damage.

+1 on 1Password. What a great application.
 
EvenStranger

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One of the difficulties in creating strong passwords is trying to remember them later. One trick that is often recommended is a pass phrase, a piece of information that can be converted into a secure password. Use a phrase that has meaning to you, like "My bowling average is 230, but I'm working on it," and use the first letter of each word - Mbai230bIwoi. You have a secure password, easy to remember because the phrase is easy to remember, virtually invulnerable to a dictionary attack, and long enough a brute force attack would be fairly useless.
 
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codda


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EvenStranger said:
One of the difficulties in creating strong passwords is trying to remember them later. One trick that is often recommended is a pass phrase, a piece of information that can be converted into a secure password. Use a phrase that has meaning to you, like "My bowling average is 230, but I'm working on it," and use the first letter of each word - Mbai230bIwoi. You have a secure password, easy to remember because the phrase is easy to remember, virtually invulnerable to a dictionary attack, and long enough a brute force attack would be fairly useless.
Click to expand...

Nice tip..I like that..^^
 
Steve Austin

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BrianLachoreVPI said:
Actually - change all of your passwords immediately - and then set about trying to get everything sorted out.
Click to expand...

Good point BrianLachoreVPI but, if someone has already changed the passwords it will be very difficult for TheDen to do that without contacting
all the services that he has an account with and asking them to reset the passwords, then he can go about changing them.
 

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