In this fast-moving digital world, everything is now transforming into data. Our username, account details, passwords, personal information all are some sort of data. And believe it or not but everyone’s data is on the verge of compromise if not effectively protected. As attackers try different ways to steal the confidential data of the users. In this article, we have discussed five common ways followed by hackers to steal private data.
Sniffing/Snooping:
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Sniffing is one of the most common and simplest of the method used by hackers to steal user’s data. In common terms snooping is a way to get unauthorized access of other person’s private data. It can be done in a simple way by peeking into other’s mobile or computer screen when he is entering his credentials. But this can also be done in an advanced way by using a hardware device or a software program. For example, a sniffer is a device used by hackers to steal the confidential data of a user. This device is attached to the user’s PC for stealing all his username and passwords. But for this attacker initially must have physical access to the user’s PC. Therefore, this type of illegal activity is mostly possible in a public place like an Internet café. Apart from this snooping can also be done by installing some snooping software on a user PC or complete network to remotely monitor all his activities. However, sometimes snooping is deliberately done by companies on their employee to monitor and track their productivity. Also, individuals can be snooped by local police agencies if found to be a suspect. So, although snooping is not always done for illegitimate actions but when used by fraudsters the only intent is to steal the user’s private data.
Spoofing:
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Spoofing is another common method used by hackers to gain access over personal data of another person. It is done by faking one’s identity and pretending to be someone else. Although there various available spoofing techniques but the most common among them is email spoofing. An attacker tries to send the fake email posing to be real by editing the images and contents of the email. Now when the sender opens the mail he found it genuine and transfer all the genuine information that is asked in that email. The other way of spoofing is spoofing the IP address of a computer. In this type of spoofing the sender tries to conceal his correct location and pretend to be sending the email from some other location.
Brute Force Attacks:
In this type of attack, a hit and trial methodology are used. A hacker tries specialized software to frequently generate all the possible combinations of passwords to break into your system or network. The success of this attack lies in the complexity of the password that you have set. It means that if you have set a complex password that consists of the alphabet, number and special characters then it almost impossible for a hacker to break into your system. Therefore, it is strictly recommended by the security experts to never set the passwords that can be easily guessed or relates to you in some manner. The common example is your birth date, pet’s name, spouse or child’s name, etc. And all this information can be easily accessed from your social account like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Now once a fraudster has this information he tries to get access to your email account by initiating a brute force attack and targeting your account with random possible password combinations. Once he is successful he can gather all your confidential information. But if you are using a password generated by a password generator then you can easily protect your account.
Keyloggers:
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If we are talking about the ways, used by a hacker to steal personal information, then keylogger is one of the most effective technique. A keylogger is a common form of malware that is mostly spread via infected attachments in an email. A hacker just sends you a luring mail and asks you to click on the link to claim the winning amount. Now, once you click on that link a keylogger automatically installs on your system and hide deep in the file system of your PC. Now once you start typing on the infected PC it will record all your keystroke and send them to the remote server of a hacker. And once the hacker gets all your personal information like username, password, he can use it anywhere. Also, the keylogger is a serious threat to one’s security as it exposes all your personal details along with the actions you perform on your PC. Now, if you are not using antimalware Software then you can never locate this keylogger. Therefore, the only way to fight this malware is using antimalware.
Installing Free Software:
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Who in this world doesn’t love free stuff, and when it comes to software that costs around hundreds of dollars then we love to get that for free. But, there’s nothing like free in this world, the software that is offered for free is nothing more than a honey trap. The hackers usually offer the paid software for free to plant malware into your computer. And once you install their so-called free software, they either get remote access to your system without your permission or import all your sensitive data to their system. Therefore, it is highly recommended to pay for the software and purchase it from the original manufacturer.
So, guys, these were some of the most come ways that work quite effectively for the hackers to steal your data and other personal information.
