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7 ways to hack and steal your personal data

15.10.2015

burglary protection data

Mr. Robot is a plausible TV series about hackers–antiglobalists praised for its convincingness and depicted on the screen reality. Gripping story of Elliot Anderson and his assistants is based on real interviews with experts in this field. Real hackers consulted creators of the series which became an authentic movie that could be a manual of protection from hacker attacks. The series demonstrates all the schemes used by the protagonist to destroy companies and even powerful corporations; even ordinary swindlers deploy these methods to use your data for their selfish ends. This article brings out several methods used by crooks to receive your personal information which you consider secured and protected.
1. Wi-Fi network and its insecurity
   The series begins with the bright scene of unmasking a café’s owner who created a website with illegal content. The main character found out about the content after he had cracked the password to the café’s public Wi-Fi network, followed all the available data and detected the swindler. 
   When you decide to perform any important monetary transactions or make a deposit, pay bank charges or carry out any other financial operations you’d better forbear from using any public networks. Transferring personal data via public network is unsecure and thoughtless method to settle the matter. Free access to Internet at metro stations, shopping centers, cafes and other public places is great, but don’t entrust it your personal data. You’d better delay transferring funds or personal information.
2. Easy to remember – easy to hack!  
   Ordinary passwords such as «Qwerty», «12347», as well as dates of birth, important dates and holidays, names of your pets, idols and parents and so on are not able to fully protect you from a hacker attack. In case you complicate your passwords by using upper and lower cases, combination of Latin and Cyrillic characters, take our congratulations!
   Movie depicts how Anderson quickly and easy hacked the e-mail of his psychiatrist: a name of favorite singer and the year of birth were entered in reverse order (Dylan_2791) – this is the password. His colleague’s account was hacked in no time as well: password 123456Seven represents a too much obvious variant.
   If a swindler indeed intends to hack your account and spend some time for entering multiple variants, so your “sophisticated” passwords composed of memorable dates and a name of your favorite dish will not protect your account or a PC. You have to change passwords from time to time, keep in secret and intricate them.
3. Unclassified personal data
   A competent person with experience in his pursuit is able to get the required information at ease. When the protagonist needed to know the route of a taxi with a specific person, he just dialed the traffic control service and deceived an operator. Elliot convinced the operator that he lost his keys in that car and he needed an address the taxi made its way to. The operator provided him with all the data taking his word for it.
   Anderson also performed other frauds to achieve his purposes. He introduced himself as a bank employee and received data to enter accounts by informing a victim that his/her bank account has been hacked. Unsuspecting clients spilled the information to Elliot being worried that a hacker would get the data and not expecting that they handed it over to a swindler.
   It is impossible to get 100% protection but before to disclose the information to a person you must ask for his ID and reasons to get the data. This is your personal information; therefore, you need to know how it will be used. You shall not disclose your passwords during a phone call. Bank employees will not ask for a password as they may verify your security question. Only shady dealers will ask for passwords!
4. Free cheese is only in a mousetrap
   Besides public networks, free software as well as data and storage carriers may pose danger. Without a hitch Elliot sends a virus to a person of his interest by offering a dvd with music as a gift. Software of this sort is capable of delivering information about the activity, recognizing key combinations, passwords and correspondence. It is also possible to connect to a computer or laptop camera to follow victim’s movements and use the data afterwards for blackmailing.

  Do not plug in unknown or dubious devices, download files and applications from doubtful websites; it is of great importance to keep in public places only data you’re not ashamed of.
5. Unreliable public institutions
State-run institutions are obliged to keep secret all your data, but most of them run old or not updated versions of antivirus software.
Anderson changed results of his medical examination in his online medical record in couple of minutes to avoid rehabilitation. Real virtual crooks are able to get required passport data or write out a prescription.
6. Concealed applications in your smartphone
   Shadowing your smartphone is easy in case if an application is installed. Do not entrust your phone to unknown people or people with dubious reputation as they can install unwanted software without your knowledge. The same way it’s possible to find out when and for how long a person left his/her home abandoning it unsecured.
7. Website address modification
   The lead character of the series in order to deceive a security officer and enter a depository, counterfeits a page from Wikipedia. Virtual encyclopedia can be edited so fraud or unauthentic information on rarely visited pages can be discovered only after long period of time. Social networks, blogs, Internet-banks and e-wallets can be easily copied and falsified – inattentive user entering his passwords and card data hands it back to swindlers.
  You must check and closely examine the address of a website you intend to use: maybe it’s not Perfectmoney, but Perfectmoniy, or address of a social network has got an additional symbol in its name.  Having read this article, check up your passwords for complexity and reliability. Take Internet network and your personal data in earnest, so that nobody would use it against you! Regular antivirus scanning is of great importance; and watch Mr. Robot series - it is worthy of efforts. This interesting and useful TV series allows taking a virtual world in a new light.
 By the way, have you stick up your camera with non-transparent Scotch tape?