When news broke that $1.4 million had been lost in a breach of Connecticut's state-sponsored college savings fund, Connecticut CBS affiliate WFSB Channel 3 Eyewitness News reached out to Kelser to help viewers understand what happened.
Since little was (and still is) known about how the breach may have occurred, Kelser COO & CTO Jonathan Stone tried to synthesize what is known into some actionable ideas for viewers. The fact that the breach was limited to only 21 accounts made it seem unlikely to be a systemic issue for CHET, and more likely that access was gained to these accounts through other information about those individuals such as their social security numbers or email passwords.
Jon offered some suggestions for how viewers can avoid something like this happening to them. The story quoted him on destroying sensitive paper mail--highlighting how digital hackers can often get the tools they need from the physical world (something that can be overlooked in our conversations on high-tech breaches like this). Other tips Jon offered (that didn't make it into the story) included:
- Using different passwords for each online account (a password manager makes this quite convenient)
- Choosing usernames that don't include your own first or last name
- Enabling two-factor identification (CHET doesn't offer this currently)
- Making sure your contact info is up to date with financial institutions so that you won't miss email notifications of changes to the account if someone breaks in
