If you dread hackers and being the victim of hacking attempts, you aren’t alone. Having a smartphone means protecting yourself from attempts to hack that smartphone, along with your most important and private data. If you aren’t sure what a hacking attempt even looks like, these are the four most common ways hackers access your email data. This info might be scary, but it can also drum home the importance of creating strong passwords and never, ever opening emails and attachments or links from people you don’t know.
The 4 Most Common Ways Hackers Access Your Email Data
Phishing:
One of the most frequent entrance points into an email system is undoubtedly phishing, according to Lorie Carson, a tech expert at Real People Finder. “Hackers employ this psychological ploy to persuade you to provide your username and password,” Carson says. “Assaults using domain spoofing to conduct phishing [include] inadvertently entering your email password into a phony website or application, such as a fake Outlook Web App or Outlook 365 gateway, [which] can make you fall for this scam.”
Spear-phishing attacks:
“Some phishing attacks take a more targeted approach, while the phishing attack types outlined above are indiscriminate and spread by spray-and-pray techniques,” Carson says. “Hackers who use spear-phishing will research your company, your organization, or you to make their social engineering attack more individualized and authentic.”
Trojan:
Although it seems harmless, Trojan software is malicious, Carson warns. “A user might download a ‘free’ utility, for instance, to remedy a problem with their PC,” Carson says. “However, as soon as they download it, the program begins secretly gathering information (such as email addresses and passwords) from your computer.”
Compromised Wi-Fi networks:
“Wi-Fi rogue networks can be created by hackers to capture email credentials,” Carson says. “These networks frequently have enticing names like ‘Free Wi-Fi’ or ‘Guest Wi-Fi’ and are installed in public locations. Once you are connected to them, they can "sniff" and collect your data packets. These so-called ‘man-in-the-middle’ assaults also gather email usernames and passwords.”
