2013 hailed the year of the mega breach
Posted April 8, 2014 7:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A security company is calling last year the year of the “mega breach.”
In an annual report, a company specializing in computer and Internet security says a half billion people had their identities exposed by hackers in 2013.
Symantec’s report says the total number of computer breaches jumped 62 per cent compared to the year before.
UBC computer science professor Richard Rosenberg says security can’t be guaranteed, but there are steps that can be taken to improve it.
One way is to have multiple IDs.
“If you have a single ID for everything you have, once that ID is breached, everything you have is breached,” explains Rosenberg.
Changing your password regularly is another way you can protect yourself. But Rosenberg points out we don’t tend to like to have too many IDs or passwords because we forget them.
But does he see a time when the number of breaches and hacks actually drops?
“Well, I think so,” says Rosenberg. “I think there’s an enormous amount of work going on now, trying to figure out ways in which people can use computers in an effective and safe way without having to remember lots of stuff.”
