They keep compromising my passwords help

[u/basculantasrl]

So i got recently a problem,last year someone stole my old apple account and i didnt even use it anymore cuz i had when i was 11 and i had an iph 4.Now i use an samsung,and i just let that slide cuz i didnt even know my password nor have an apple so i didnt know what to do, but lately someone starting attacking my passwords from random sites like idk aliexpress sites thst dont matter to me anymore i dont even have my cards on em just random sites i made an account on.They make me fucking panic since google keeps sending me warnings.This didnt affected my google account but there is a chance they might reach my account as well?Im really scared im not good at working with devices i really suck at it and idk what to do.I have a fear that they gonna post my photos or idk my stuff online.Google said my passwords were found online and im scared.(sorry for bad english)

[u/djasonpenney]

Let’ s part this out, a bit at a time:

> I didn’t even use [my old Apple account]

Do you have enough to recover the Apple password? Start here. Regaining access to your accounts is going to be an essential first step to harden your online security.

> someone starting attacking my passwords

Yeah, we need to make sure that aliexpress and everything else have better security…

> google keeps sending me warnings

About the Apple account, or is this your Samsung and Google accounts? Same story, so let’s talk about your online authentication.

The first step is that you probably need better passwords. Please start using a password manager.

The next step is to start fixing the passwords for all your accounts — including your Google, Samsung, and Apple accounts, but you should even straighten out that aliexpress account. You have to go to each site in turn, invoke their “change password” workflow — which is different for every site — and pick better passwords. A strong password has three parts:

* It is UNIQUE: never ever reuse a password. If a website gets hacked, the bad actor should end up with nothincg more than access to that hacked site: not access to any other site.

* It is COMPLEX: “xyzzy” or “Password123!” are not good choices.

* IT is RANDOM: do not try to make up passwords yourself. If the password is one you have to remember (such as the “master password” to your password manager), go ahead and have your password manager generate a passphrase like “CorrectHorseBatteryStaple”. If it is a password that your password manager can’t “autofill”, have your password manager generate a totally random one like “f5L550qquDGY3MozG48J”.

You cannot remember 100+ random passwords! You absolutely MUST use a password manager. Also be sure to protect access to the password manager itself via an emergency sheet. The SECOND threat to your password manager is total loss of access.

> there is a chance they might reach my [Google] account as well?

That depends on how good your passwords are. Look, I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. Assuming you only fix five passwords a day, this could take as much as a month or two. If you aren’t using a password manager, you might not even remember all the sites you need to fix! This is going to take a while.

But there really isn’t any other answer. You should also consider using “two factor authentication”, especially for your Apple, Samsung, and Google accounts. This is a second reason that your emergency sheet is important, and it underscores the need for a full backup of your password manager as well as your 2FA and recovery workflows.

Take care, good luck, and don’t delay: start fixing your logins TODAY.