Over the weekend, many people got notices from their banks and retailers informing them that their 3rd party email company has been hacked by outsiders. Texas based Epsilon, the 3rd party company in this case, issued a brief statement warning that hackers had stolen customer email addresses and names from its database. Krebs on security article.
Companies impacted includes Chase, Kroeger, LL Beans and Target. And this list of companies is quite long. Visit the link above to see the list.
So someone out there got your email address. What's the big deal? It's a big deal because it probably is the same address that you use to sign onto your bank, log into your frequent buyer program and so on.
It's amazing how email addresses are now so widely used as identifiers. Even if I have multiple email addresses, how many can I remember any way. So, it is even more important to use a good secured password.
There had got to be better ways to identify an individual. There are other methods, 2 factor identification - but SecurID announced they were hacked the previous week. Biometric identification - but they are clumsy and not always accurate.
Have you heard of other ways? I'd like to know.
In the mean time, security experts warned us to be extra careful with regard to email spammers and scams in the next weeks and months.
