The reality is that accounts are hacked in fairly simple ways – attackers don’t use black magic.
Some people may even use the same password for every account they use.
This is extremely insecure.
If you reuse passwords and one company slips up, all your accounts will be at risk.
You should use different passwords everywhere –a password manager can help with this.
They then send this data to an attacker over the Internet.
However, they can also arrive disguised in other software.
For example, you may download a third-party tool for an online game.
The tool may be malicious, capturing your game password and sending it to the attacker over the Internet.
Use a decent antivirus program, keep your software updated, and avoid downloading untrustworthy software.
Some users hand their passwords over readily.
Answering Security Questions
Passwords can often be reset by answering security questions.
Security questions are generally incredibly weak – often things like “Where were you born?
“, “What high school did you go to?
“, and “What was your mother’s maiden name?”.
With this easy-to-get information, attackers can often reset passwords and gain access to accounts.
Ideally, you should use security questions with answers that aren’t easily discovered or guessed.
Your email account generally functions as your main account online.
For this reason, you should secure your email account as much as possible.
It’s especially important to use a unique password for it and guard it carefully.
This isn’t happening.
They could then try tobrute-force the encryption, essentially trying every single password combination until one works.
They may also have been compromised as a result of easily guessed security questions.
Image Credit:Robbert van der Steeg on Flickr,asenat on Flickr
