A very chilling read, Kris. This is vital information for many of us here and anyone with a Google, iCloud or Amazon account and/or an Apple ID is at risk.
And it doesn't stop there.
I've only recently begun to take my passwords much more seriously, which is a result of how many possible bots and spammers we see trying to get into the TS forum on a regular basis.
On that subject, by example: Here at TS, we have had a few periods, especially early this summer, of activity from certain IP addresses that have been hackers or bots trying to take over member accounts. Paddy did most of the heavy lifting, but we were seeing locked accounts here daily for quite a while from multiple attempts to get into those accounts. It became necessary to ban those IP addresses through the Forum software, as that same software limits the the number of log-in attempts, and many of the Admin/Moderator accounts were the ones being hit.
So on Paddy's recommendation, I strengthened the password here and other places I visit regularly on the internet.
But really, this gentleman's experience shows, even with a stronger password, how easily our digital lives can be turned upside down in a matter of minutes. As such, I'm definitely going to revisit the security settings at all the sites I use on a regular basis.
And, of course, back-up, back-up, back-up!!!
Chris
