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How do people hack accounts?

So somebody apparently just logged into my gmail account from China which made me wonder, how do people actually hack into accounts like email accounts? Because I know that there's no way anybody could have simply guessed my password and given that gmail locks down accounts after a number of incorrect attempts, it couldn't have been done by repeatedly trying random combinations. So how do they do it?

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Original post by Chlorophile
So somebody apparently just logged into my gmail account from China which made me wonder, how do people actually hack into accounts like email accounts? Because I know that there's no way anybody could have simply guessed my password and given that gmail locks down accounts after a number of incorrect attempts, it couldn't have been done by repeatedly trying random combinations. So how do they do it?


Phishing?
Original post by TheNoobishKnight
Phishing?


I only use this gmail account for YouTube, I've not used it as an email account for well over a year so I'm not sure how that would be possible?
I often wonder this! Someone logged into my Gmail account from Philadelphia or somewhere on 16th July this year!
Reply 4
Avatar for TVIO
TVIO
12
Original post by Chlorophile
I only use this gmail account for YouTube, I've not used it as an email account for well over a year so I'm not sure how that would be possible?

Some sort of malicious code installed on your device(s). My email got hacked from brazil once and I'm pretty sure it was a rogue android app that allowed it.
Could they just of brute forced it?
It's weird it got hacked if you haven't been using it.
If it was on an old or disposed of piece of hardware you have sold, given away or disposed of... it could have been stolen from that.
(edited 9 years ago)
They either guessed your password correctly, or used an incredibly geeky decryption technique
Original post by TVIO
Some sort of malicious code installed on your device(s). My email got hacked from brazil once and I'm pretty sure it was a rogue android app that allowed it.


That's worrying, it could be either my iPod or my Windows Mobile but I've not made any software changes to either in a long time? So why would it just be 'hacked' now?
Maybe you used the same email-password pair on a website with a less protected database. People tend to use the same pair across the Internet and that is why when Ebay got hacked, the email-password pairs were considered to be valuable because you can often access many websites with the same pair.
Reply 9
Avatar for Shadoo
Shadoo
12
You probably have a RAT, I would seek a forum that helps with malware removal and check-ups. You won't even know it but your every action is probably being logged.
Original post by hellodave5
Could they just of brute forced it?


He did state that google locked it down after x attempts. But you could be right, maybe they bruteforced it against something else that doesn't lock you out, then they just logged in your gmail?

Also OP they may be hacked into a database and found your user/pass.
Original post by Juichiro
Maybe you used the same email-password pair on a website with a less protected database. People tend to use the same pair across the Internet and that is why when Ebay got hacked, the email-password pairs were considered to be valuable because you can often access many websites with the same pair.


I don't use that email for anything other than YouTube.

Original post by Shadoo
You probably have a RAT, I would seek a forum that helps with malware removal and check-ups. You won't even know it but your every action is probably being logged.


Could that be on my iPod or Phone? Because I didn't think it's likely that would affect my linux machine?
Reply 12
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TVIO
12
Original post by Chlorophile
That's worrying, it could be either my iPod or my Windows Mobile but I've not made any software changes to either in a long time? So why would it just be 'hacked' now?

I hadn't installed anything recently either, but I'd backup any important files then factory reset. Make sure the backed up files are free of viruses etc. as well. I'm presuming you have a computer with a good anti-virus.
Original post by Chlorophile
So somebody apparently just logged into my gmail account from China which made me wonder, how do people actually hack into accounts like email accounts? Because I know that there's no way anybody could have simply guessed my password and given that gmail locks down accounts after a number of incorrect attempts, it couldn't have been done by repeatedly trying random combinations. So how do they do it?


I'm not quite sure, but to avoid things try setting up 2-step verification, that way even if someone obtains your password they can't access your account.
By knowing things that you don't know about computers and software.
Original post by Chlorophile
I don't use that email for anything other than YouTube.



Could that be on my iPod or Phone? Because I didn't think it's likely that would affect my linux machine?


Maybe, the password is easy to guess by computing methods. Or maybe you got malware on your computer/phone.
Original post by TheNoobishKnight
He did state that google locked it down after x attempts. But you could be right, maybe they bruteforced it against something else that doesn't lock you out, then they just logged in your gmail?

Also OP they may be hacked into a database and found your user/pass.


Maybe not brute forced then, just stealing from database sounds more likely.
What about old hardware? I hear its commonly stolen from sold on stuff? You can quite easily retrieve deleted documents. People often sell things like phones and PC's etc.
Reply 17
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TVIO
12
Original post by Chlorophile
I don't use that email for anything other than YouTube.



Could that be on my iPod or Phone? Because I didn't think it's likely that would affect my linux machine?

Android uses the linux kernel btw. So it's possible it's on that. Install some sort of anti-virus and scan all your systems and reset/reinstall the ones you can. Not worth the risk really
Reply 18
Avatar for Shadoo
Shadoo
12
Original post by Chlorophile
I don't use that email for anything other than YouTube.



Could that be on my iPod or Phone? Because I didn't think it's likely that would affect my linux machine?


I'm more than sure linux malware exists, it could be on anything.
Original post by The_Last_Melon
By knowing things that you don't know about computers and software.


Chess!

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