Department of Accounting and General Services

Maybe you’ve gotten a new credit or debit card in the mail or heard something about the U.S. moving to the “Chip and Signature” or “Chip and PIN” standard. The U.S. is moving toward adopting these standards, and October 1st, 2015, is a major deadline for U.S. payment companies and merchants.

Every day malicious cyber actors compromise websites and post lists of usernames, email addresses, and passwords online. While this can be embarrassing, such as when thousands of government employees email addresses and passwords were exposed during the recent Ashley Madison breach, it also leaves users open to follow-on potential attacks due to password reuse. Password reuse is when someone reuses the same password on multiple websites or accounts. This is a vulnerability when the password is exposed in coordination with other information that identifies who is using the password, such as first and last names, login names, or email addresses.