Netgear’s Warning Is Why You Should Not Reuse Passwords

Netgear has warned customers that they have seen “suspicious activity” on user accounts associated with their Arlo security cameras. The company is very clear in saying they don’t believe their systems have been breached. Rather, investigations suggest attackers may be using credentials obtained from other breaches and using those to attempt to gain unauthorised access to Arlo accounts. This is an object lesson in why you should use a unique password for every account and, preferably, use two-factor authentication on everything.

Netgear has provided detailed instructions on how to change the password on your Arlo account.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/04/netgear-arlo-go-the-lifehacker-review/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/04/netgear-arlo-on-wall-410×231.jpg” title=”Netgear Arlo Go: The Lifehacker Review” excerpt=”One of the fastest growing smart home product groups is security cameras. it makes sense now that high quality sensors are falling in cost and the technology that’s needed to bring a connected camera to market is commoditised. That also means it’s hard to make a product that stands out. The Netgear Arlo Go, offers a high quality camera but throws in a solar power option, weather-proofing and cellular comms so it can be remotely deployed where your Wi-Fi doesn’t reach. Here’s Lifehacker’s review.”]

Password reuse is one of the things hackers rely on in order to break into systems. Looking at the Have I Been Pwned database, there are over five billion pwned accounts out there. If your email address is in that database then someone, potentially, has stolen your user account details from somewhere and, if you use the same email address and password combination, then those details might be used to attack your account somewhere else.

If tracking all those passwords is a problem, use a password manager that creates complex passwords, stores them and automatically enters them for you so you don’t have to remember them.

If you prefer an old school approach, you could create your own strong passwords and record them offline in a notebook.

Better yet, only use services that offer two-factor authentication (2FA) so that a compromised password doesn’t give a bad guy open access to your accounts.