Archetyp Links

Anyone who 'recycles' a password issued urgent warning Brandyn Murtagh, an ethical “white hat” hacker, says information obtained through data breaches has been circulating on the internet for some time. View Image Anyone who 'recycles' a password issued urgent warning Anyone who "recycles" a password or has variations of the same password is being warned. Brandyn Murtagh, an ethical “white hat” hacker, says information obtained through data breaches has been circulating on the internet for some time. ‌ Hackers obtain passwords and test them out on other websites – a practice known as credential stuffing – to see whether they can break into accounts. The fraudsters also attempt to access accounts with derivations of the hacked password. ‌ Research from Virgin Media O2 suggests four out of every five people use the same or nearly identical passwords on online accounts. But Murtagh has issued a warning over this, saying it is effectively an open door for scammers. ‌ READ MORE NS&I warning for anyone with over £350 invested in Premium Bonds A spokesperson for Virgin Media O2 says: “Human behaviour is quite easy to model. [Criminals] know, for example, you might use one password and then add a full stop or an exclamation mark to the end.” ‌ “It’s very rare that you are targeted as an individual – you are [usually] in a group of thousands of people that are getting targeted. These processes scale just like they would in business,” he says. “We’re lifting a lid on how easy it is for cybercriminals with the right know-how to get their hands on your data and passwords online.” said Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at VMO2. “At Virgin Media O2, we’re dedicated to keeping our customers safe from cybercriminals – blocking millions of fraudulent texts, malware and spyware, and flagging harmful websites and suspicious calls." Article continues below Murray went on: "But while Brandyn is one of the good guys, bad actors will stop at nothing to access your accounts. "We all need to take action to stay safe online from fraud, including using strong unique passwords, especially for your email, phone, social media and online banking accounts.”