{"id":16782,"date":"2013-03-28T21:01:34","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T13:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=16782"},"modified":"2023-04-06T21:52:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T13:52:41","slug":"keeping-online-data-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/keeping-online-data-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"How You Are Helping Hackers Steal Your Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

We know hackers are all around us, and that\u2019s why we are extra paranoid about our online accounts and passwords. In fact, in the current web environment, hacking is not a direct job targeting your Gmail<\/a> or your Facebook<\/a> account. It is a controlled chain reaction involving all your linked accounts. From one service, the hacker gets important security information about another; then he \u2018hacks\u2019 that account, and so on.<\/p>\n

We, however, think that big companies and tech geeks are immune to hacking, don\u2019t we? But is it really the case?<\/p>\n

No One Is Safe<\/h2>\n

Wired writer, Mat Honan\u2019s account was hacked last year<\/a>, and the hackers (identified as Clan Vv3 and Phobia) took control over his Gmail account and terminated it.<\/p>\n

From there, they took over his Twitter and Amazon accounts and then his Apple account, and eventually deleted everything from his Apple iCloud service. The painful truth is that Mat Honan had helped pave the way to this elaborate scam. As an example, since tech blog Gizmodo\u2019s Twitter account was linked to Mat Honan\u2019s, the hackers got access and took liberties with the Twitter account too.<\/p>\n

In another story, Labnol\u2019s Amit Agarwal was also subjected to a Facebook account hack<\/a>, which was not successful as the author immediately took action and locked the account.<\/p>\n

No one is immune to hacking. It can happen to anybody, and when it does, there is no point in regretting it. You really have to know what sort of security you have on all your web services and how you can better manage them.<\/p>\n

How You Are Helping Hackers<\/h2>\n

Here, we will see some obvious things you can do to make yourself immune to hacking.<\/p>\n

1. Facebook Profiles<\/h3>\n

As the largest social network, Facebook profile is the first thing you need to secure. Go, check it out from the outside. Log out of your Facebook then look your account up, from an outsider\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n

If your Facebook profile shows too much information, you will likely victimize yourself. Check out this particular user\u2019s public Facebook profile, specifically doctored for this article (that means it\u2019s not real. I have only masked the email address, as we need an actual email address to do this. ).<\/p>\n

\"facebook<\/figure>\n

This particular profile lists apparently innocuous information, like the IM screen names on Google Talk, AOL (AIM), Yahoo, etc. What you probably forgot, but a hacker knows and takes very seriously, is that a screen name is actually your email address<\/strong>. For instance, highlyinsecure@gmail.com is an email address owned by this particular user. It is wide in the open for everybody to see.<\/p>\n

It is good to share your email address with the people you know. Otherwise, it is better not to share it at all.<\/p>\n

2. Account Recovery Hack on Facebook<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s do an experiment. Pretend you forgot your password, then go into Facebook. Facebook may ask you for your email address, your user name or your mobile number. You can provide that information, and it will send you an email with instructions to reset your password.<\/p>\n

Previously, there was a method employed by Facebook to reset the password, and that method had your trusted friends<\/a> involved for the purpose. It sounds foolproof unless you accept a lot of friend requests on Facebook. Picture this: You get a friend request from a few people that you don\u2019t know. If you are the friendly type, you\u2019d probably accept those four requests.<\/p>\n

One thing you don\u2019t know is that those accounts may be operated by one or more hackers. What they will do is simply raise a password reset request on your account, and select three of those four accounts as your \"trusted friends\". Facebook emails security codes to those trusted accounts, and boom, the hacker takes over your Facebook account. If you have problems with that, then you should take a look at this post<\/a> of mine to figure out what to do.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Facebook no longer uses this particular method. It also doesn\u2019t rely on security questions anymore. Right now, in order to gather access to a Facebook account, the only way is by securing access to the original email address.<\/p>\n

Hence, a hacker needs access to your email account to get into your Facebook account.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t10 Essential Steps to Fortify Your Facebook Account Security<\/span><\/a>\n
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