What can happen when a hacker gets in your emails….

Hey all, an easy to remember password is an easy to hack password and once someone’s in they have the keys to the kingdom! Once someone’s in your mail account they don’t need do much, just think how much damage this can cause;

1.) hacker gets into your mailbox using the web portal

2.) hacker sets a forward so all your emails have a copy automatically sent to the hacker at an address of their choice (they can now see your emails even if you reset your password!)

3.) hacker sets a rule to automatically delete all emails from Microsoft, your IT provider as soon as they arrive so you never know there’s an issue

4.) hacker has a quick look through for anything important, i.e. customer about to send you some money, repeat transactions etc. Sets a rule on these so you never get to see the real emails but the hacker does

5.) hacker now looks at all your emails, picks the one they like, changes the bank details and sends it through to you

6.) you unknowingly pay the hacker and are left with egg on your face and an uncomfortable situation

This is just a small example of what someone could do from being in your email account, yet alone all the other personal details they can access, site password they can reset and much much more!

Let’s see that scenario again with two factor authentication turned on……

1.) hacker guesses your password on the web based portal

2.) portal asked for a time sensitive code that only you will receive on your mobile

3.) hacker quits there and then as without your mobile device they can’t get in BONUS – you get an alert that someone tried signing into to your account and now have an opportunity to change your password to something less hackable You win, hacker loses – job done

This is article 1 of 5 and over the next 4 weeks we will be releasing a new article (every Friday) of different methods you can use, and are recommended by CETSAT on steps you can take to secure your email accounts and other online data. Please check back on the 19th October for our next article.