ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — We all know hackers are trying to get our information and we might be unknowingly making it easier for them with “zombie accounts.”

Zombie accounts, as in an account you signed up for that you never use or an app you downloaded, never use but never deleted.

Maybe it’s the MySpace account you opened 20 years ago. Or Tumblr, or Imgur. Did you open an account with Expedia to book a single vacation?

Unless you deleted the account, it’s still active.

Why does this matter? The more places you have your email address, password, name, and address are scattered all over the internet, the easier it is for hackers to get it.

A data breach at MySpace exposed details of 360 million users and 11 years ago Tumblr suffered a data breach that exposed over 65 million accounts.

Think of all of the things you’ve signed up for. It’s important to find them and delete the accounts. It’s easier said than done but Google and Facebook can round them up for you.

To hunt these zombies, look in Google’s security settings, it’ll show you everything you’ve signed up for with your Gmail address. Facebook shows which websites and apps you’ve logged into using your account in its security settings. You can also search your inbox for “welcome to”, or “your subscription”.

Spot a zombie? Go to the website, and delete the account. Smartphone apps on your phone that you never use can drain the battery and track your activity and movements. Search the library and delete the ones you no longer use.

It takes some time but it’s got to be easier than killing real zombies I suppose.

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