Have you ever stopped to think about how intertwined our various digital identities have become? Our e-mail addresses are linked to Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, and any number of other services. And if a malicious hacker gains access to one of those accounts, it’s easy enough to wreak havoc on an innocent person’s digital life. Wired journalist Mat Honan writes about how he became the target of a brutal hack that wiped his Macbook and iPhone as well as his Gmail account, robbing him of gigs of personal data (including photos of his young daughter). Honan’s grim tale should remind us that on-line security is not something to be taken lightly. I’m certainly guilty of using the same password for multiple accounts and I intend to fix that. I’m also going to activate Gmail’s two-step authentication. The additional hassle is an acceptable trade-off for keeping disaffected youth out of my private affairs.
