In terms of modern ways of email hacking, there are unfortunately several possibilities you need to be aware of. If you are a security enthusiast, it can actually be pretty encouraging for you to know that there are so many different ways to work with.
If you have read my earlier post on how to hack email account, you will have a clear picture of how ignorance of hacking methods can compromise your account.
When it comes to modern hacking strategies, there are a number of different things you can consider. However, the actual email hacking techniques (phishing, keylogging, etc.) remain the same as discussed in the previous post and to be able to actually carry out those methods, a hacker may use other social engineering tactics or ways and we are discussing those in this post.
An email account is a gateway into your personal life, which, unfortunately, means it’s also a valuable target for hackers to hack into your personal life. As they say, the biggest computer hacks of all time started with a compromised email account.
Malware, in general, seems like something that is getting smarter all the time. When you break down the modern ways of hacking, you’re going to find that many of them come down to insidious, clever methods for getting malware into systems. Email hacking is one possibility, to be sure, but it’s not the only option available to you by a long shot.
Each year, security researchers come across new techniques used by hackers that raise eyebrows. However, they all revolve around old social engineering techniques. Here are some of the modern email hacking techniques a hacker may use to collect your information and personal details to hack into your system or email.
Modern Ways of Hacking Email Account
1. Setting-up Fake WiFi Hotspot
This is one that can trip up even the smartest users. Creating a fake WAP or free WiFi is entirely too easy for anyone in this day and age. And who doesn’t crave for free WiFi? We all use these free access points all the time whenever we get one, but we should really try to be more careful.
Once we are connected to such a point, it’s pretty easy for hackers to swoop in and take what they like over HTTP. The idea for the hacker is to set up an access point that sounds legitimate. People connect, and all of that unprotected data is there for the taking.
You would say most websites you use are encrypted (HTTPS enabled), so no way hackers can intercept the data you are sending and receiving. Yes, true. But hackers are always one step ahead.
Along with monitoring your HTTP traffic, the more devious hacker will ask their victims to create a new access account to use their ‘Free WiFi’. Most users will likely use a common username or one of their email addresses, along with a common password they use elsewhere.
The “Free WiFi” hacker can then try using the victim’s credentials on popular email providers like Gmail or Yahoo-mail and get control of his/her email account and the victim will never know how it happened.
This doesn’t stop here; the hacker can even push malware into your system while you are creating an account using free WiFi, get your whole computer or phone compromised or steal your session cookie to access your authorized account session.
2. Bait & Switch Hacking – Used for Phishing & Malware Spread
This is the hottest ongoing technique used by hackers to install malware on your system or carry out phishing attacks to hack into your email account.
Ever noticed that while you are at any download page especially when downloading pirated movies or songs, along with the legit download button, you will find a couple of more download buttons on the same page or sometimes you will be presented with popups claiming fake system errors on your computer? These are actually advertisements or, in this case, a bait-and-switch attack carried out by hackers.
The hacker first buys an advertising slot on download websites by showing legitimate or harmless content or advertising. The download website approves the advertisement and takes the payment. The hacker then switches the content or advertisement with something considerably more malicious. Often, they will code the advertisement with JavaScript to redirect viewers to another website, which is meant for phishing attacks, hacking emails, or forcing users to download malware disguised as legit download items.
You think you are downloading/running safely, and then suddenly, this is no longer the case. After following the link to download something you want, you will begin by downloading random software.
This complicates quick detection and takedown of the advertisement since the hacker first baits a legit advertisement and then switches it with malicious code without the download website’s consent and notice.
3. The Waterhole Attack: Hacking Company Email Accounts
As the name implies, this is the practice of poisoning a physical or virtual location that a lot of people utilize, usually people from the same organization or group. The benefits of doing so are enormous for hackers. A good example of this would be a coffee shop or a restaurant where a lot of employees from a particular company hang out. A fake WAP or “free WiFi,” can be created to grab personal information from these employees and gain access to the network at the target’s place.
Usually, the email services or clients used by companies are all unencrypted, i.e., all employees access their email accounts over a normal HTTP connection, unlike popular email services like Gmail, which use an encrypted HTTPS protocol, leaving all the web traffic easily interceptable and easy email hacking.
Companies like Facebook and Apple have been hit by these types of attacks in the past. Essentially, any popular meeting place is going to prove to be a potential target for a hacker.
Protecting your organization from email hackers
When an organization for example, is chosen as a target along with its employees, the victim, along with the identified victim’s friends or business colleagues, face the challenge.
Fake emails are received by the targeted employees. These fake emails vary from fake LinkedIn to Facebook friendship requests. These contain links that lead to compromised servers that install malware by squeezing both known & unknown vulnerabilities in the browser of the employee and other content readers.
As hopes never dry up, tactics often fail as criminals adeptly obfuscate their attack codes. Fields can best succeed with protection through threat intelligence & adaptability. The following measures may be acclimatized:.
Focusing on hackers logic
Though the attacks against the other enterprises are a bit different from the attacks against the organizations, the same crime logic is applied. This includes similar application manipulation, similar vulnerability, almost the same data capturing transmission techniques, etc. One’s best chance to prevent these attacks when they hit us is to have solutions that can identify crime logic instead of file patterns.
Having layers of protection
There is no one type of product, defense, or vendor that is capable of providing all of the security an enterprise or an organization wants. One of the most effective solutions to avoid being jeopardized is to apply multiple layers of protection.
Applying them at the gateways, on the endpoints, and within the networks works effectively in keeping the threats to a minimum.
In conclusion, never trust public WiFi access points and if at all you have to use them, then make sure you are accessing only the HTTPS version of the website or use any VPN service that protects all your communications.
Never recycle your passwords. Always use a different password for different websites, essentially Passphrase instead of a password.
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- How to hack bitcoin wallet
- How to hack someones Facebook