Letter: Take Internet security seriously

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I just changed my password again. The new standard is something like a 12-digit random number with capitals, numbers and symbols. This is required to prevent thieves from stealing my information or getting into my account.

Here's the rub. Try logging into an account with a incorrect password three times and you are immediately locked out and have to call the company with a complete list of information to get reinstated.

So now I am required to remember these insane passwords to protect myself, but the companies requiring it have such crappy security that they are hacked daily by 14-year-old Russians and all my information is stolen anyway. (Upwards of 1.2 billion Internet logins and passwords were just stolen.)

The companies' response to this is, "Whoops, my bad, all your information was just stolen and, oh, by the way, change your password again." Instead of telling us to change our passwords again, the online companies need to pay us at least $1,000 per stolen item. Internet security wouldn't then be a joke anymore.

Jeffrey Porter

Salt Lake City