Vulnerability Team

What Can You Do To Protect Yourself After This Security Breach?

1. Change passwords: as your PSN password may have been leaked, and it is a fact that users tend to re-use passwords, change your passwords across the board. That includes your email security password, Facebook, online banking etc.

2. Keep an eye on your credit card. If you have made a purchase over PSN with your credit card there is a chance it has been compromised. Keep an eye on your account activity and it may be no harm to discuss with your bank the measures to take if you think your credit card number has been compromised.

3. Change your security questions. PSN has security questions in place in case you forget your password – the answers to these may have been stolen and since you may have used the same question for a different online or telephone service, be sure to change your security questions and answers across the board.

4. As phone numbers appear to have been compromised in this attack, it’s not just the online world you need to be wary of. Be aware of suspicious phone calls asking for personal information and purporting to be from your local bank, for example.

5. Implement strong email security measures, including anti-spam, anti-phishing, and anti-virus solutions with encryption control, such as that provided by MXSweep.

6. Be aware of scam phishing emails purporting to be from Sony. All it takes is for the hackers to know your name, email address, and that you had a sony account for them to put together a convincing email which could convince you to give over personal information.

7. Delete anything that looks like spam immediately.

8. Use the preview window in your mail program to protect yourself.

9. NEVER click on links within emails. If in doubt, type the address manually yourself. Scammers will often mask a link in an email to make it look legitimate.

10. Don’t trust the “from” line in your email program. It is very easy to fake a sender of an email. In a similar vein, never trust any phone numbers or addresses in emails, especially if you have a bad feeling about them.

The Sony PSN security breach will be a huge concern for its 70 million customers worldwide, but by following the tips above you can protect yourself from theft and identity fraud.

source: mxsweep.com