The hacked morning

It's 7:42. The kettle's boiling. Your phone buzzes.

"Your email was opened from a new device — in Romania."

You've never been to Romania. Your stomach drops.

You try to log in — nothing. Your password suddenly doesn't work. Then you see it: you're locked out of Amazon too. Instagram shows the same warning. And PayPal.

Your password was summer2019. You used it everywhere — email, Amazon, Instagram, PayPal. "One less thing to remember."

Somewhere, a company leaked its customer database. A stranger bought your password from an old list. Today they tried it everywhere — and walked in.

This isn't a made-up story. It happens thousands of times a day, on both sides of the Atlantic.