If you’re up with IT news, you’ll probably know that a group going by the name of Lulzsec recently published a list of 62,000 email addresses and passwords gleaned from security breaches. This most recent publication brings the total of stolen login credentials to 800,000 lifted from some 13 compromised databases.

Are you exposed? It’s unlikely if your domain is hosted with our preferred hosting provider, White Dog Green Frog. Apart from excellent pricing and reliability, WDGF have a secret weapon – Brian Coogan, a highly experienced system administrator who keeps well ahead of most potential security threats. He is often called upon to teach Linux system admin classes to military and security agencies, here and in the USA.

Even so, there are two effective ways to find out whether your credentials have been compromised by Lulzsec. First, you can go to https://shouldichangemypassword.com, a website maintained by Australian researcher Daniel Grzelak. Simply enter your email address, and it will confirm whether you are in one of these breached databases or not. It’s secure – you are not asked to enter any passwords.

The second method is simply to assume you have been breached, and change your passwords anyway. This is always good practice, as passwords have a habit of ‘leaking’ over time. And while you’re at it, why not strengthen your password with more characters, including upper and lower case letters, numbers and a good sprinkling of punctuation (where allowed).

Oh, and don’t be tempted to use the same password or PIN for many different things – that’s asking for trouble. If you have trouble remembering passwords, use a password safe, such as KeePass.