Is it easy to hack email accounts technically?
Answer is No.
It is difficult to hack email accounts but the hackers makes trap in which user fall and lend up losing their email accounts.
They make trap such that we lend up giving our own passwords.
Below are methods how hackers set trap and solutions to it.
Website Phishing (Spoofing):
In case of Website Spoofing or Phishing the attacker creates Website with same GUI look and feel as original website but the URL of Website is different.This website is created for cheating purpose.
Eg:An attacker creates a spoofed web page of let say hotmail.com which would be exactly same as hotmail ,so people believe it as original website.Their main intention is to get password,if user enters his username and password unknowingly on login page he gives away his id and password to attacker.
Solution:
- Never access email or secured site(where login required) other than original site
- Type URL in address bar never visit form any hyperlink.
- Check address bar whether the address of website is proper eg:For instance spoof page would be yahooo.com in case of yahoo.com
This applies to all site where secure login required.
Key Loggers:
Key Logger is a tool, kind of a spyware which records the key activities of keyboard on your machine.Attackers installs keylogger on your machine back-door without your knowledge ,when you are installing some program if keylogger is patched with it then logger also gets installed or click on illegitimate link like tempting screen saver,spams,ads,images etc.
The logger records all activites and sends log file periodically to attacker without your knowldge.From these log files attacker extract your password and uses it.
Solution:
- Key your PC update with antivirus and antispyware.
- Don't click on unknown links spam links however tempting may be.
- Scan installable file before running it.
Improper Password:
According survey conducted people use their close relative name,date of births,mobile numbers,religious significance name and digit like 1234 as password.Whenever attacker targets a specific user he understands person properly by seeing traffic activities and personal info of users studies his target properly and uses guess work to crack password or else can crack using brute forcing it.
Solution:
- While keeping password, use random words.
- Password must be mix of block, small alpahabets ,numerics,and special charcters in order to make it strong.
- Whenever making any email or social networking account remember to keep your secondary email.If you haven't you could edit it whenever required.If at all you forget your password or hacked your password reset request will be send to you on secondary account.
- Never use same passwords for all accounts.
Registration forms & Spam mails:
Most of free forums downloading sites have compulsion registration there are many fake and spams among those too which infringe with your personal details.People generally have habit of keeping same password as that of their email accounts,thus land up giving password.
Spam mails: There are instance where there are forge spam mail which call themselves from bank or support team of hotmail , gmail and ask to mail username password in order to avoid from closing accounts.No provider sends this mail they all are fake spams.
Solution:
- Never use same passwords on registration pages as your email account,use different passwords.
- Use some temporary email accounts not personal email accounts while registering yourself in forums etc.
After all prevention is better than cure
