With more than 12 billion hacked accounts identified to date, cybersecurity tools have never been more important. Hackers who gain access to your accounts can create anything from a minor nuisance to a major disaster, in the case of critical accounts like your Apple ID or financial services.
Cloud storage company pCloud offers a set of three security tools to help protect your personal data against hackers, and all of them are completely free to use:
Personal data breach checker
Some data breaches involve literally millions of accounts, the worst of them exposing personal data like address, date of birth, and social security number – exactly the sort of data needed to carry out identity theft.
Worse, companies don’t always admit when a data breach has occurred. For example, a hacker gained access to the phone numbers and email addresses of 5.4M Twitter users through a vulnerability first reported back in January of last year. The exact timing of the attack is unclear, but Twitter patched the hole after the report, yet only revealed in August that the user details had been obtained by a hacker and offered for sale.
That’s where the first of pCloud’s tools comes in. Simply enter your email address here, and the company will check its database of all known hacks to reveal whether your data has been exposed.
Where a breach has occurred, it’s essential to take immediate action:
- Change your password to a new, unique, strong one
- Switch on two-factor authentication if available
- Be suspicious of unexpected emails and calls, even if they know your personal details
- If financial data is exposed, consider freezing your credit: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion
Password strength checker
In many attacks, passwords are the one thing standing between an attacker and your personal data. As soon as a data breach occurs, attackers use brute-force dictionary attacks and other tools designed to reveal weaker passwords.
The safest approach to passwords is to use a unique, randomly-generated, strong password for every website, app, and service that you use. But if you do choose to use passwords you’ve come up with yourself, it’s a good idea to check just how secure they are.
While we make fun of ultra-weak passwords, you’d might be surprised just how quickly a brute-force attack can crack what might seem like a decent one.
pCloud lets you check any of your passwords, and will provide a realistic estimate of how long it would take to crack it. Note that none of the passwords you check are stored.
You can check out your password strength here.
Random password generator
If the password check reveals any issues with your existing passwords, or you simply want to be sure that any new password you choose is as secure as possible, a random strong password generator is key.
One option is to use the one built into Safari, but the passwords it suggests aren’t compatible with all services – some websites limit password length, for example.
pCloud’s free random password generator offers greater flexibility. You can choose any length from 4 characters all the way up to 64, and there are checkboxes for the inclusion of symbols, digits, uppercase, and lowercase. Best practice is to leave all four checked, and a password length of at least 16 characters, but if a service won’t let you do that, you can still meet its requirements while maintaining the highest security possible.
You can use pCloud’s random password generator here.
Password manager
The company also offers a password manager, pCloud Pass.
Three tiers are offered, including a free one for use with a single active device. Paid tiers are available for unlimited devices, and for up to five family members.
Photo: Philipp Katzenberger/Unsplash
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