Apple, Amazon respond to reporter's hacking nightmare
Today's breed of hackers has learned to exploit these weaknesses.
“Rather than having to know how a network or system actually operates, what they are exploiting are the administration and policy aspects,” Goodman said. “It's a whole different level of brilliance, because it's one that looks at social interactions rather than the IP protocols, codes and databases.”
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, told SCMagazine.com in an email that setting up additional authentication steps at various accounts is necessary.
“Turning on additional security, when available, like Google two-factor authentication, is a must,” he said. “Sites like Facebook, for instance, allow you to assign roles to those staff who can edit a business' fan page rather than give them all 'god' rights that could widen the opportunities for abuse by a malicious attacker.”
Goodman advised companies and end-users to move away from having all of their devices and accounts connected.
“For one, if you are using Google Docs and Google Apps, maybe you shouldn't be using Gmail,” Goodman said. “Don't put all your eggs in one basket.”
Taking a few extra steps now could save users a major headache in the future, he said.
“Have an email address that's used for no other reason than for password retrievals and resets," he said. "It also pays to go through and get rid of old emails. Distribute your services, which isn't convenient, but is a bit more secure."
