Following the news that Reddit has locked user accounts whilst it investigates a potential security incident, Raj Samani, Chief Scientist and McAfee Fellow commented below.
Raj Samani, Chief Scientist and McAfee:
“Again, 330 million users find themselves grappling with the fact that hackers might have had the potential to access a treasure trove of their data, putting their privacy at risk. Whilst I command Reddit’s honesty and the precautions they are taking to lock accounts, I cannot stress enough that users themselves need to take steps to secure their personal security immediately. It is time for people to wake up to the real threat they face by having the same password linked across their online accounts.
“Recent McAfee research revealed a third of people rely on the same three passwords for every account they are signed up to. If you use the same password for Reddit and a number of other apps and accounts, you need to change it NOW. A cybercriminal only needs to get their hands on this once to gain access to your personal and even financial information. We know it’s hard to remember all your passwords but using a password generator and manager can help solve this problem and ensure you don’t become an easy target for these sophisticated cybercriminals.”
