Have You Been Hijacked?

Protect Your Client’s Valuable Personal Information with IT Security

What is Account Hijacking?

Account hijacking occurs when a hacker infiltrates the computer system, email account, or any other internet-based program secured by a user-ID and password. Experts consider it a type of identity theft in which the criminal element uses the stolen account information to access and obtain the victim’s personal information, including social security numbers, credit card information, and banking details.

How Do Criminals Hijack Personal Information?

The hacker applies the compromised account information and impersonates the original account holder with the intention of acquiring as much personal information as possible for future gains. An account hijacking is usually carried out through email campaigns, phishing tactics, and simple guesswork.

Because of the inter-connectedness of most of our online activity these days, once a hacker gains access to a user’s email, infiltrating other web-based programs associated with that user’s personal information is relatively easy even for the most inexperienced hacker. Social media is a particular area of attack, since users often have an abundance of personal information displayed and ready for the taking.

There are certain things that vulnerable users can do to keep the chances of being hacked to a minimum, but hacker’s methodologies improve and evolve on a daily basis. Consultation with an experienced, reliable IT service provider can often be the best course of action, since IT technicians specialize in keeping abreast of the most current hacking threats and solutions.

What Can I Do to Protect Myself?

• Turn off the “allow users to find me by email” option on all your social media applications. This will keep your friends from finding you, but it will keep those automated hacking systems from finding you, too
• Utilize two-factor authentication
• Keep all social media profiles private
• Don’t reuse passwords across multiple sites
• Never use a dictionary word as a password
• Only surf the Internet on secured networks

What Can I Do To Protect My Company?

• Consider adding VPN access to all systems.
• Change passwords to a two-factor authentication (2FA) and consider switching to multi-factor authentication
• Consider using behavior analysis technology that can detect atypical user behavior. That way, if an account is hacked, your system will detect and alert to unusual user behavior.

Sensible Systems, LLC. is the trusted choice when it comes to keeping our client’s information technology systems safe and operable. We pride ourselves in staying ahead of the latest information technology tips, tricks, and news. If you think you may have been hacked, contact us at (877) 773-6797 or send us an email at {email} for more information.