In accordance with our privacy policy, and relevant international legislation, this website is obligated to disclose any security breach as soon as we can do so without worsening the problem. At present we have no reason to believe that any breach has occurred. But the fact that another account of mine was recently caught up in a security breach with an entirely different account raises the possibility, albeit remote, that a bad actor may have had the opportunity to access to normally secure areas of this site. The probability of such an attack is, in my opinion, acceptably minute, and honestly I expect it much more likely that there’s something else going on that I haven’t noticed at all than this particular vulnerability.
So you don’t need to worry about locking down your accounts, at least not from this site, at the moment. Except, maybe you should. Because the truth is, by the time you’re being notified about a data breach, it’s often too late. To be clear, if a security expert tells you to change your passwords because of something that happened, you should do that. But you should also be doing that anyways. You don’t buy a fire extinguisher after your house is on fire, so don’t wait to change your passwords until after a breach.
Also, use better passwords. Computer security and counter surveillance experts advise using pass phrases rather than ordinary words, or even random but short strings. Something like Myfavoritebookis#1984byGeorgeOrwell or mypasswordis110%secureagainsthackers. These kinds of pass phrases are often just as easy to memorize as a short random string, and stand up better to standard dictionary attacks by adding entropy through length. Sure, if a shady government comes after you, it won’t hold up against the resources they have. But then again, if it’s governments or big time professional hackers coming after you… well, nice knowing you.
In the 21st century, protecting against digital crime is arguably more urgent than in person crime. Sure, a mugger might steal your wallet, but a hacker could drain your bank account, max out your credit ruining your credit score forever, expose your private information to anyone and everyone everyone who might have an axe to grind, use your identity to commit crimes, and frame you for illegal or indecent acts, essentially instantaneously, perhaps even automatically, without ever setting foot in the same jurisdiction as you. As technology becomes more omnipresent and integrated into our lives, this threat will only grow worse.