The Great Email Breach of 2011 and What It Means to You

The emails went out to millions of consumers all weekend long from blue chip companies like Disney, Walgreens and Kroger: Epsilon, the big company they use to manage their email marketing had been hacked. Your personal data (consumer names and email addresses) is now in the hands of bad guys.

You might not realize it, but this type of hacking has been an epidemic for months. Most of the country’s large, reputable email companies have been hacked. In some cases, companies and their consumers were never alerted. Turns out, there is no law requiring that you be notified. Whoops!

You’re a careful consumer. What are you supposed to do to protect yourself?

A couple of things, actually.

First of all, if bad guys can hack the defense department’s computers, they can certainly get your data. Your first line of defense is not to give out valuable information at all.

-Keep a separate email account for non-critical use. Planning to sign up for a shopper loyalty program? Great! Use a different email account than the one you use for banking or important correspondence.

-Use different passwords for your each of your email and online accounts. Yes, it’s a hassle…but it’s about the most important step you can take.

-Don’t make “password” your password.

-When selecting passwords, use characters like !, @, &, #, © and so forth in your password string.

-Make your password at least seven characters long.

-Change your passwords the same day you change your smoke detector batteries; in other words, every six months.

-Have a home wi-fi network? Password protect it.

-Don’t even click on a link in an email asking you to update personal information. Go directly to the website you usually use and enter from there.

Here’s the thing. Even making these moves won’t protect you from the more determined crooks who want your data. But just like locking your door at home makes you safer, taking simple steps will deter casual thieves.

What’s Up Interactive creates and successfully manages and measures email campaigns for major companies everyday. We understand the importance of protecting consumer data and can provide these service for your company. What’s Up’s email technology partner, Silverpop, is an industry leader that has invested millions to enhance and strengthen the security of its email and CRM platform. Our Atlanta Daybook service which utilizes the Silverpop delivery system reaches over 7,000 thought leaders daily in north Georgia via email, Twitter, RSS and the web.