Codemasters and Epic Games hacked, reminds you to use unique passwords-Update: Bethesda too

With the news of both Codemasters and Epic Games recently being hacked, this again serves as a sobering reminder: don’t reuse your passwords.  These include forums and other services both of these companies provide along side their games.  So if you ever raged about the latest UT or GoW game on Epic’s forums, or linked any accounts to Codemasters in games like Dirt, you could be affected.  When these types of security breaches happen, many times your email address and password can be exposed, and in the event you use this same login combo elsewhere, other unrelated accounts can be compromised too.  Using a password manager like Lastpass, 1Password, Keepass, Roboform, Mitto or any other of your choosing can help you generate and keep track of your unique passwords.  The obvious advantage is, if a particular site or service is hacked and/or login details are exposed, that password can’t be used elsewhere (say your bank account or email account).

I am personally a fan of LastPass, and while storing all of your passwords in a centrally located spot has its own risks (online or offline), there are ways you can mitigate the risk — and of course, pretty much anything is better than using your birthday or pet’s name as your password everywhere.  I should have a detailed review of LastPass along with some other easy tips on securing your own data this week.  While it’s easy to rage at the Sony’s of the world, we also have to take some personal responsibility to securing our own information.

UPDATE:  And now Bethesda reports a similar hack attempt was made on them last week.  The overall point stands, especially since there appears to be assault on game company sites.  Spend some time and update your passwords with uniques.