July 31, 2019

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It might seem benign when you hear that your email has been hacked. Most people change their password and think its over . What people don't realize is how much of their digital life is actually controlled by their email account. 

According to Krebs On Security, "Sign up with any service online, and it will almost certainly require you to supply an email address. In nearly all cases, the person who is in control of that address can reset the password of any associated services or accounts –merely by requesting a password reset email." This includes your bank accounts, social media accounts, online retailers, dropbox accounts and more! Once obtained, these credentials can be used for financial gain.

 

Within seconds of obtaining email credentials, a criminal can learn the name of your bank by just doing a few quick searches through your messages, they can reset password and transfer all of your funds into their own account. For a consumer, this could mean losing their life savings and for a merchant, it could mean losing their business. Here are some other ways your email account can be exploited:

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Scamming your contacts:

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Use your own email account to send out mass email scams

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Infiltrate Retail Accounts: Purchase phones

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Delete your social media accounts

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They can gain access to your retailers as well, change shipping address for auto ship purchases export all of your contact to later use for spam and phishing attacks and they can 

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Aside from tampering with your accounts themselves, thieves will sell your revised credentials. Here are other ways hackers can exploit your stolen email account if they keep the password don't see the connection wand the  damage can be done in just one hour of access by a cybercriminal.

 

In today's digital age, people spend most of their waking hours on their digital device. We shop more, bank more and even socialize more on When you sign they don't realize is that once a hacker has control over your email account, 

 

1. https://www.votiro.com/2018-the-four-zero-day-attack-stats-and-trends/

2. https://sensorstechforum.com/97-of-malware-infections-are-polymorphic-researchers-say/

3. https://www.lifewire.com/most-damaging-malware-153602

4. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/16/business/malware-cybercrime-eastern-europe.html

5. https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/2017_dbir.pdf

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