Gawker was hacked this week and over 1.3 million accounts were compromised. Users utilizing the commenting system of the following sites could have their login details exposed: Lifehacker, Jezebel, Gizmodo, Gawker, Kotaku, Deadspin, io9, Jalopnik and Fleshbot.

This hack should be an eye opener for any web user, as it shows that even large scale sites are open to vulnerability. Users must be smart about their password creation and use, or they may find themselves a victim of identity theft, fraud and other unpleasant cyber crimes.

Our Safety Center contains information on how to responsibly set up your passwords and other safety precautions. Below is a short list of recommendations to help you keep your online accounts secure:

1. Do not use the same password or email account to access multiple sites. For example, do not use the login credentials to access Facebook that you would use to access your online banking account.
2. Strong, secure passwords are a necessity. Passwords should be a minimum of eight characters and should contain upper and lower case letters and numbers.
3. Change your passwords on sensitive accounts every 30 to 60 days.
4. Never share your passwords with anyone, especially if you don’t follow our advice and use the same passwords on multiple sites.
5. Consider using a commercial software application to manage your passwords.

RoboForm is a highly rated password management application, and they offer a free trial. Click here for more info.

*Disclaimer – We are an affiliate of Roboform and would appreciate you using the link above if you want a trial of the software.

On a side note, the recent Gawker hawk also showed some of the top, poorly selected passwords currently in use:
Don’t make the hacker’s job any easier! Don’t use any of these passwords to access your accounts!