Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
I recently appeared on Fox and Friends to discuss email hacking. Dave Briggs, a FOX & Friends Weekend co-host, lost access to its Hotmail email account when hackers have guessed either password or qualification issue. (He admitted that his password was not as strong as it should have been.) The hackers locked Briggs on its own account and spammed all contacts with a fraudulent email that appears to be written by Briggs himself , claiming that he was trapped in Malaysia and asking someone to help by transferring money via Western Union. Only after contacting Hotmail persistent administrators Briggs was able to regain control of its own email account.
Twitter was targeted by a similar hack, which resulted in a data breach. It is likely that the hacker guessed the answer to the question of the security of a Twitter employee and reset the password of the employee. Wednesday, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone blogged, "There's a month, an administrative employee here at Twitter was targeted and her personal email account was hacked. From the personal account, we believe the hacker was able to get information which allowed access to Google Apps account of the employee that contained documents, calendars and other Google Apps Twitter relies on for sharing notes, spreadsheets, ideas, financial details and more within the society. "
And of course, Yahoo mail account of Sarah Palin was hacked last year, during the presidential campaign. The pirate explained how easy it was in Wired .
email rocks on the Web! Since you are no longer tied to a PC-based client, you can access your email wherever you are. And all data stored in your email account will be safe if your PC crashes. Many webmail providers offer gigabytes of free storage and other useful tools such as documents, RSS readers and calendars. Life in the cloud is easier and more convenient. But is it secure?
PC Pro presented a study conducted by Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University, who measured the reliability and security issues that the four most popular webmail providers use to reset passwords. AOL, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are all based on personal questions to authenticate users who have forgotten their password. The study found that the "secret questions" used by four webmail providers were insufficiently reliable authenticators, and the security of the personal question appears much lower than the passwords themselves. Yahoo claims to have updated all their personal questions in response to this study, but AOL, Google and Microsoft have not yet changed.
Once a hacker has your email address, he or she can simply go to "Forgot password" from the website of your email provider and answer a question personal preset that you answered when signing for the account. with a little research, the hacker has a good shot at finding the right answer.
Some current questions could be answered using information found on the social networking profile of a user, or through a website like Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com. Some answers can be found in the bin of the user. Some questions seek opinions, rather than facts. for example, "Who's your favorite aunt?" Requires an opinion in response, but if an attacker knew all your aunts names, he or she could grasp them all one by one. Some questions are harder to answer. Unfortunately, if you signed up for your email account web based there for over a year before these hacks email became more frequent, your questions can be more easily answered.
current personal issuesGmail are :?
- What is your frequent flyer number
- What is your library card number What was your first phone number
- ? ?
- What was the name of your first teacher
- Write my own question
current personal issues Yahoo are:
- Qu 'is that the first name of your favorite uncle?
- Where did you meet your spouse?
- What is the name of your oldest cousin?
- What is the nickname of your oldest child?
- What is the first name of your oldest niece?
- What is the first name of your oldest nephew?
- What is the first name of your favorite aunt?
- Where did you spend your honeymoon?
I suggest you check the "forgotten password" to your own email account based on the Web, see your current personal matter. It is easy to answer, or only it would take a little research to resolve, update the question with one that you create based on the opinion, as opposed to reality. And keep in mind that the list most people "pizza" as their favorite and "liver" food as their least favorite. so, be creative. You also need to strengthen your password. Combine uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. do not use consecutive numbers, and never use names of pets, the family members or close friends.
you can protect yourself against identity theft by obtaining a credit freeze. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit . in most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. You also need to invest in identity theft protection. All forms of protection against identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.
Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses hacked email on FOX & Friends .
Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, an expert on identity theft, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 and start-up companies as a consultant on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. the thoughts and advice of Siciliano on all these issues often appear in both television and print media news, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of safety training as a member of the American Society for Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on high alert; How to take control of your personal safety and to prevent fraud . He also established a partnership with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness of the growing threat of identity theft and provide tips on how you can protect yourself.