Is it possible for someone to access all my passwords through my MacBook pro?

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Level 1

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Is it possible for someone to access all my passwords through my MacBook pro?

This morning I was woken up by a lot of emails from different websites saying that there were charges to my account and my account passwords were changed. Even my Apple ID was stolen. Literally all my passwords and accounts were compromised. I have all my passwords saved on my MacBook pro on Safari. I was wondering if it's possible that someone was able to obtain all that information through my MacBook Pro . I ran 2 different virus scanners and both said that no threats were found. I do use terminal to write Java programs for my computer science classes and use an SSH. Is it possible that someone hacked my computer via terminal? I don't understand how all my accounts were attacked. The only place that all of them are stored is on my MacBook. Is there any way to find out if i was hacked through my macbook?

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Apr 1, 2015 9:23 PM

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Answer 1

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Apr 2, 2015 2:09 PM in response to navidC22

navidC22 wrote:

I was wondering if it's possible that someone was able to obtain all that information through my MacBook Pro .

Anything is possible, but that's highly unlikely. There's no known malware capable of infecting the version of Mac OS X that your profile indicates you are running.

Undoubtedly, your online accounts were hacked, and this gave the hacker access to other accounts. Change all the passwords immediately. Be sure to use strong passwords (longer is more important than complex!), use different passwords on every site and use some kind of password manager to keep track of them (such as the built-in iCloud Keychain or the third-party 1Password app).

For your Apple ID, see:

What to do if your Apple ID has been hacked

(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com.)

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Answer 2

navidC22 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 2, 2015 3:21 PM in response to thomas_r.

I've been avoiding using my MacBook Pro due to this concern. So it's safe to start using it again once I change all my passwords? Any idea of how this could of happened?

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Answer 3

thomas_r.

Level 7

31,989 points

Apr 2, 2015 4:19 PM in response to navidC22

navidC22 wrote:

I've been avoiding using my MacBook Pro due to this concern. So it's safe to start using it again once I change all my passwords? Any idea of how this could of happened?

Yes, it should be safe to use. As to how this could have happened, it's probably nothing more than a poor password on one or more of your accounts, or easily-guessed "security questions" that allowed a password reset. That gave the hacker initial access to that account, and once that was obtained, he/she managed to gain access to your other accounts.

For a real-world example of how this kind of thing can work, see:

http://www.wired.com/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking/

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