An Easy Three Step Plan for Gawker Users After the Hack

As you may have heard, if you are one of the people who have ever commented on a Gawker Media website, congratulations, whatever email address and password combination you have used is now publicly available. Of course, if you’re at all security minded, you use a shitty low-level password for things like website commenting accounts. Here’s our easy three step process for dealing with this security breach.

• Identify the password you use. Reportedly the “retrieve password” function is working again at those sites. If it’s not? You can download the hacked source file, if you like — it’s a big file, but it only takes about 15 or so minutes on Pirate Bay, because there’s lots of peers seeding that download! (Alternately, find someone who’s already downloaded it to do a quick search for you.)
• Go to a Gawker site and change your account’s password, not that it really matters, I mean, what are they going to do, leave crazy comments under your username? Oh no, your sterling comment history!
• Go into your browser of choice’s preferences and check through your saved passwords for other uses at other websites. (These answers may surprise you! Truly.)

You could then go about and brush up the passwords you’re using here and there on the web. Also, maybe then you’d like to delete your account at a Gawker Media website? Sorry! “We understand how important trust is on the web, and some of you may wish to delete your Gawker Media account. Currently account deletion is not available.”