Hacked

I know, kind of a creepy little graphic, huh? I haven't been online very much over the past week or so. I guess you could say I've been a little gun shy. Last week (was it really only last week??!) my email was hacked into and every single person in my contact list (a ton of people from my church, family, friends, old contacts I hadn't deleted, old employers, current employer...everyone) was sent an email in which I said I was asking for money. I was mortified! And I feel like someone stole something from me. It's like they came into my house and stole my bike or wallet or something. Luckily, the hacker included a little tidbit that said I was in England, and anyone who knows me would know that isn't true. But it's definitely opened my eyes to the realities of the internet. I set my blog to private just until we could get it worked out. I was finally able to gain access to my hotmail account a few days later and found the hacker had deleted all of my contacts, changed all my info, and made it pretty useless. That's fine, because I am done with that account. Deleted. I'm just grateful nobody sent any money to the Western Union account this person was providing once someone made contact with him.

What will I do differently in the future? Well, first off, I won't have the same password for all my accounts anymore. I spent hours going through online accounts and changing passwords. I was so nervous Mr. Hackerman would reek havoc there! Second, I will change the passwords often. I hadn't changed the password to my email in 7 years. Third, I realize now it can happen to anyone. Really, who am I? I'm no one important. I don't have money. So I never even thought I'd be at risk. But we all are. In doing research on this I've found that this happens so often. Identity theft is so real. And apparently it's not that hard to do. When searching for a graphic to put to the blog I found out that there are websites out there that tell you how to hack!

Anyway, so we are back. Cautious, but back.