Mat Honan's (WIRED writer) Nightmare

“This summer, hackers destroyed my entire digital life in the span of an hour,” says Wired senior writer, Mat Honan. He finally tells his story.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/ff-mat-honan-password-hacker/all/

A supplemental article from Mat Honan on NY Times story last week:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/why-no-password-is-safe-from-hackers/

 

I read about his case when it happened and there were some important lessons to learn from it (for instance, it is a good security test to try to reset your own password for an email provider in order to check the level of security they offer), but most of the first article is a rant and it's also full of half truths ("No matter how complex, no matter how unique, your passwords can no longer protect you." or "Give me 20 [minutes] —total—and I own your PayPal").

And I'd also suggest him to research some risk management theory too, to go along with his online security research.

On the other hand, the advice from the middle of the first article (How to Survive the Password Apocalypse - especially the "DO" part) is very good.

 

ya i know the felling all to well of a Apocalypse system meltdown.
i live threw worse costing me big $$$ of raw hardware damage.
i feel buddy's pain all to well and its how i ended up choosing to go {work in progress} white hat ~ It pro.

the internet is no longer what i remember it to be and it wasn't till someone killed all hardware at my end {and room mates} that i woke up to that fact.
a Pdos attack is evil.

Confucius say~ all ways take the good out of something and don't dwell on the bad.