I Got Pwned

I got pwned... again. It seems to be happening more frequently these days. I don't think the slang terminology of getting pwned is as common as it once was so if you aren't familiar with it, it means to get "owned" or defeated.

I received an email from haveibeenpwned.com today notifying me that my email address along with other personal information showed up in a dark web data dump from the National Public Data background check service.

The Have I Been Pwned website is a service that allows you to enter your email address and see a list of all the known dark web data dumps where your email address appears. It also tells you which other pieces of information were compromised in the dumps. When you enter your email and submit the form, you get a list of sites and services that looks something like this:

I appreciate this service but I have often wondered why they let people wander onto their site and enter any email address they want. That seems like it could be a useful hacker or stalker tool itself. I wish they'd change the service so that when I enter my email address, they email me the list of data dumps rather than dumping the entire list in the browser. I don't like knowing that someone with my email address could view such a detailed list of places where I had accounts at one time or another. Don't worry, they don't display any sites or services that might be... embarrassing. Though I must say I am a bit embarrassed that people now know I have a LinkedIn account.

The moral of the story is: You can set an eighteen character password. You can set up a pass key. You can enable two-factor authentication. You can enable thirty-two-factor authentication. None of it matters when the organizations holding onto our personal information are far more careless with all our information than we are with our passwords.

I suppose these things happen. Cybersecurity at any organization is as strong as the biggest doofus with shell access to any of their servers. Sigh. Remain vigilant in protecting your personal information and stay informed about where it is ending up by using services like haveibeenpwned.com.

And If you happen to come across my social security number on the web, please tell it to come home. I miss it.