Cyber crime is a multibillion dollar industry
The rise of these attacks is only natural in a digital world where money and information is being exchanged. It might be shocking to hear but you can't prevent all cyber attacks, you can however reduce your risk by doing some very easy things when setting up your Starlink system. The list of attacks is long, and some are out of your ability to be able to protect yourself entirely, but the number one way an account is hacked is through your password. More accounts are attacked because of default passwords, simple passwords and shared passwords. This can be overlooked and extremely important, and something we can all do very easily. This step is done at the initial set-up of your account and one more time when setting up the WIFI system. Setting your password has a huge impact on your cyber security health, potentially even saving you from being hacked. Most people have figured out by now that having a secure password that is memorable for you and yet hard for others is just a part of being safe from cyber account hijacking. A brute force attack is when they (Hackers) gain access to your account by using your own password, making it like it's you in your account, I think you can see why this can be dangerous.
Your Starlink system has 2 passwords, your account password and your WIFI set-up password. They're very easy to set-up and change, but there is one area that must not be overlooked when setting up your account and WIFI passwords. Very important to use distinct and separate passwords not only from each other but from other accounts as well, there is plenty of good reasons for this that will explain later .
Your password must be unique to your account, and stored safely away...never to be forgotten until needed. Why is it important to have a unique password? Today I barely remember any phone numbers as my smart phone takes care of it for me, in place there is now a thread of passwords that are becoming more prevalent and heavily used these days. We use to have a key, or a card, maybe an I.D. to prove your identity, now we have digital accounts set-up, each with perks and benefits and each one needing an email and password to be set up, leading too 100's of passwords in some cases, most stores we shop at offers savings with an account, we want those discounts! Or just to sign up for that new trending app you create an account, at checkout tills they're asking you to sign up for rewards that you receive for shopping there...the list goes on. Because the amount of passwords you need can be absurd, you're more likely to start reusing passwords and mashing through the same sequences in varying forms just because it's easier to remember, but this can also make it easy to hack. Using the same password over and over again is very problematic for a number of reasons but the main one is account hacking, you're exposing yourself to a larger hack and the likelihood of that happening increases drastically. This is where using unique passwords will help protect your account. If you use the same password between accounts, when one account gets hacked it compromises all accounts that share the same password. Where if the hacked account has a unique password then no other account has been compromised, just it alone. Using unique passwords creates a layered defense against an attack getting too deep. Dealing with one account is difficult enough let alone multiple. If you find it impossible to keep up with the volume of passwords needed then at the very least make sure your main accounts like Government, Bank, Billing, Business, Social Media, any account that has sensitive information or that you value, take the time and give them all unique passwords, especially if your using the same password for your bank that you did with the latest app you downloaded.
Once hacked it can take weeks, maybe even months to get through the process. Not fun, but it happens a lot more than you think and you're forced to deal with it. It happens to large companies all the time, especially ransomware attacks, where the hackers hold onto your information and charge you to get it back. There is a plethora of cyber attacks out there, this is just the tip of the iceberg. But one thing that you can do that will drastically help your own personal security is by changing passwords occasionally and using unique passwords for every account...I know that sucks to hear, but you will sleep better at night knowing you did this relatively simple task. Even if it means keeping a notebook(Just make sure it is safe too)
We have so far been talking about why but let's talk about how. You have 2 passwords to set-up with Starlink, your WIFI password if you're using their router and your account password, both are very important but for different reasons, the same principles apply to both. When you signed up as a Starlink customer, you were given an account, this is where your first password is set-up, this is your Starlink account password. You can change your account password if needed, and maybe after reading this article you'll want to. This can be done from the account login onstarlink.com home page, or on the top left corner of the Starlink app, you must be signed out of your account in order to change your account password.
The WIFI set-up is where your second password is used in your Starlink account. Although Starlink limits the adjusting you can do in their router, creating a strong password here will help prevent unwanted users taking advantage of your services. This password is often shared, and Starlink doesn't offer a guest account yet, meaning that anyone who accessed your internet will be able to until they are removed, either by themselves or you change your network settings. You may have been helping a neighbor whose internet went down, but once it's been fixed they should be removed to help save your bandwidth for your own use.
First step, make your passwords at least 16 digits long. We highly recommend keeping your Starlink systems accounts and passwords very unique, make them at least 16 characters long as this can increase the hacking time to 5 plus years, with 8 digits it can be hacked in a matter of days, sometimes even hours depending on the equipment and knowledge behind the hack. But making somebody have to try for five years is a pretty big deterrent.
Make it Unique, You don't have to rewrite the script of life, make it promptly by picking items, or places, vary numbers, signs even purposely miss spelling words. You'll end up with a number of passwords that you’ll use irregularly that you may have to look up occasionally, but like the old phone numbers of yesteryear you will be able to retain at least 10-20 numbers with relative ease. Try not to mix and match passwords, birthdates, family members and pets should be off the table...make it something someone would never guess about you, maybe even a hidden pleasure...after all it is a secret password.
Change Your Passwords Occasionally. Every few months we should be changing our passwords on our busiest and most used accounts. This is really good practice, I liken it to brushing your teeth, the more you do the stronger and healthier they'll be. If there ever was a hack this will just help fortify against them getting in too deeply. By using unique passwords and rotating them out you will really increase your data protection.
What if it is a major cyber attack? Not all attacks are against your individual little account but on the big boys(Starlink) accounts. Elon Musk has very intimately expressed his support for Ukraine and his dislike for Putin, Putin and his regime are no slouch to cyber crime as they have been hacking and stirring up trouble for years, with really big attacks even on Government services. When Elon tweeted about using Starlink in Ukraine he stated that the system had been hacked(we would presume externally) and shut down, but with an update the problem was quickly fixed and the system was back up and running safely. He then stated light heartedly that he wondered what they would try next. Makes you think, has he just poked the bear or was he the bear poking the victim...hmmmm. Nonetheless the risk has increased with Starlinks system, all done for the right reasons of standing with Ukraine. Here's the catch, if you signed up for Starlink they have some of your information just by default, Important information that could be very useful to prying eyes. It might not come from a direct attack, it could be two, three, even hundreds of accounts if you're using the same password. Hence the reasons large companies are always getting their employees to change their passwords every few months. You probably haven't noticed Starlinks updates which take place in the early morning hours. They happen constantly, partially because the system is new and growing but also due to new deep penetration testing that prove weak areas that they then improve. The whole process is mind-numbingly huge and vast. But even the giants like Microsoft have fallen victim and have been battling these threats for years. If Starlink does get hacked and your account information is leaked then the Hackers will only have access to that account and information within. You can check if your email has been breached from a major account at https://haveibeenpwned.com/ this is a free site to use, don't be alarmed if your email has been breached, 7 out of every 10 clients we talked with have. Just take the knowledge you now have and protect yourself better in the future.
We didn't talk about using anti-virus software to protect your system in this article. There is a good place for these services too, they can give you the extra assurance and protection that many people need. There are many offerings out there like Norton, CCleaner, AVG and many more. Depending on your needs each one offers great services that if you're hyper vigilant you can take full advantage of, but this we will cover another time, the set-up of your Starlink account and its passwords is the first step in protecting your new network. If you have enjoyed this article then check out more in our blog and make sure to become a member for free today to stay up to date for everything Starlink.
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