How to protect your G-mail from being hacked?

mattmax

13 years ago

Use a long, computer generated (strong) password.
Be really careful when accessing your gmail (or anything) on unsecured WiFi - just because gmail uses SSL, it is still vulnerable to browser sidejacking (session hijacking) if you are using unsecured WiFi.
Make sure your computer is not compromised - no amount of precaution will help you if you have a keylogger, or similar malware running on your machine.

Best of luck!

Thanks

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Ajay Tiwari

13 years ago

Well, here are few points:
Use alphanumeric password with a special charecter like $, #, & @ in your password.
Don't type your password in slow speed in public place when peoples are around you.
Don't ever forget to logout your email account after checking your emails, i have seen many peoples who just forget to logout and browser cache keeps you logged in.
To check your email account use your own PC only.. try to avoid using others PC as much as you can for checking your account.
If possible then change your password after every few weeks or months.
In the case of Keylogger it is hard to be secure as it note downs your every keystroke.

Please concentrate on first point my password is alphanumeric & with one special character where ever i need privacy. And at least till date no one has hacked my password.

Thanks

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Arjjun Sarja

Banned 13 years ago

Always use a private computer , never log in any where except you click your browser , open it and log in , dont use any link given to you online is the easiest idea to move forward without being hacked

Thanks

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jackwebson

13 years ago

Thanks for the tips guys. But I found out that there's a software out there that can detect passwords by using only your gmail username.

Thanks
2 replies

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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

Do you have more information on the software?

Thanks,

Joe Mobley

Originally Posted by jackwebson

Thanks for the tips guys. But I found out that there's a software out there that can detect passwords by using only your gmail username.

Thanks
1 reply

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jackwebson

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe Mobley

Do you have more information on the software?

Thanks,

Joe Mobley

I just searched it on Google. Here's the link.

Thanks
1 reply

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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

Thanks. I'll check it out.

I'm not really looking for a how-to but my main business account is a Gmail account. I want to protect it.

If you figure out what went on with your account, I and plenty of others would appreciate a heads-up.

Joe Mobley

Originally Posted by jackwebson

I just searched it on Google. Here's the link.

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1 reply

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jackwebson

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe Mobley

Thanks. I'll check it out.

I'm not really looking for a how-to but my main business account is a Gmail account. I want to protect it.

If you figure out what went on with your account, I and plenty of others would appreciate a heads-up.

Joe Mobley

Yes me too. My business e-mail is a gmail account and I think I've been hacked by a competitor. (I have my suspect now) I really want to try that software to know if it works and if I would try it I want to hack my G-mail which is being hacked.

Thanks
1 reply

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g4r3th 13 years ago

I always try to use a strong password, will double check my email to see if i could be a risk. Thanks for the information on gmail.
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Ajay Tiwari 13 years ago

Originally Posted by jackwebson

Thanks for the tips guys. But I found out that there's a software out there that can detect passwords by using only your gmail username.

I don't know exactly whether there is such software which really detect your password in any form but what i have seen is most of such software crack only dictionary words or communally used passwords OR they are tools created by hackers to get access to your account not to give you password of others Gmail account.

And it is not possible to crack alphanumeric password with a special character in it by a software as of what i know.

Google is really tough to crack at present situation as Google have made many changes to secure it's every user details.
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homelest

13 years ago

Thank for sharing, My gmail changed pass 5 times in month, I hope won't hack again.

Thanks

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Patrician

13 years ago

Besides having a good password, all you need to do is go to your Gmail Mail Settings and click on 'Always use https://'

encrypted -

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2 replies

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mattmax 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Patrician

all you need to do is go to your Gmail Mail Settings and click on 'Always use https://'

encrypted -

HTTPS might not protect you from session hijacking, so my advice would be to never log into sensitive accounts on an open WiFi or a public network of any sort.

I personally use a VPN account when I am traveling and using hotels or airport WiFi - that guarantees a level of encryption and security regardless of the network that I happen to be on.
- [ 1 ] Thanks
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Joe Mobley 13 years ago

Yes ma'am. An excellent suggestion that I have been doing for some time.

Joe Mobley

Originally Posted by Patrician

Besides having a good password, all you need to do is go to your Gmail Mail Settings and click on 'Always use https://'

encrypted -
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mattmax

13 years ago

There is no way that software is going to hack a strong password for someone else's account - it's simple math. Choose something with at least 8 characters, random alphanumerics, and special characters, and you are safe from any normal password cracker.

Thanks

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mizz5540

13 years ago

You should use special character like &(#$%@ in your password and you should registered your mobile number..

Thanks

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JustinDupre

13 years ago

Try to use a strong password (combintion of letters and numbers)and don't access your email using a public Wi-Fi connection.

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1 reply

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jackwebson 13 years ago

Can you explain why is it very risky to access your e-mail in a wifi connection?
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- mattmax 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by jackwebson
  
  Can you explain why is it very risky to access your e-mail in a wifi connection?
  
  Sidejacking with something like Firesheep allows anyone else on the same open WiFi as you to gain access to any service you use that does NOT use SSL for everything.
  
  This means that gmail, and other services that allow the option of going SSL for everything would seem to be safe. . . unfortunately they are not as safe as one would hope for at least a couple of reasons.
  
  1. Many services, like gmail, will still allow access via non ssl, and a malicious third party can sometimes force this non-ssl access by doing a DoS on the router, and pretending to be the site just long enough to trick the browser into requesting data via non-ssl.
  
  2. Most people don't just check their email - they check their facebook and twitter, etc. as well. Even if the email is secure, if a dedicated hacker gets access to several other accounts, their odds of figuring out how to crack the email goes up.
  
  3. On an open network, it is possible for the malicious third party to spoof a non-encrypted site (like a news site) and attempt to force malware onto their target's system. If such an attack succeeds, then the encryption and all of the other safeguards are meaningless, since they can just force a keylogger onto their target's machine.
  
  Bottom line: open WiFi is very bad news from a security perspective, unless using something like VPN to literally encrypt everything, not just "sensitive" sessions.
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
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rtailor

13 years ago

I think almost all the points to secure a gmail account have been discussed but nobody has suggested to use a dual verification option in gmail account.
I always use dual verification method to secure my gmail accounts. In this option Google sends you a verification code on your mobile to enter along with password to open your account.
You can save this code for 30 days on your computer so that you may not need to verify it again and again.

I think this is a great feature of gmail accounts which google has provide in free to its users. I strongly recommend to use this option to avoid hackers.

Thanks
1 reply

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Bekah Howard

13 years ago

Originally Posted by mattmax

Use a long, computer generated (strong) password.

Originally Posted by ajaykt

Well, here are few points:
Use alphanumeric password with a special charecter like $, #, & @ in your password.

You know, everyone always says this but since a lot of account hacking is done by computers, it doesn't necessarily work. Here's a humorous way to look at it:

Thanks
1 reply

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Ajay Tiwari

13 years ago

Bekah, where did you found those images looks like part of some comic.. LoL

Well, there is no such tool or software which can crack an alphanumeric password with a special character as of what i know. I can share lots of information about hacking things which can clear all doubts but as WarriorForum is not forum for hacking discussion, so here i am giving you simple challenge hack my following email address if you can and prove what you are saying.

mmwadmin(at)gmail.com

Originally Posted by Bekah Howard

You know, everyone always says this but since a lot of account hacking is done by computers, it doesn't necessarily work. Here's a humorous way to look at it:

Thanks
1 reply

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Bekah Howard

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ajaykt

Bekah, where did you found those images looks like part of some comic.. LoL

Well, there is no such tool or software which can crack an alphanumeric password with a special character as of what i know. I can share lots of information about hacking things which can clear all doubts but as WarriorForum is not forum for hacking discussion, so here i am giving you simple challenge hack my following email address if you can and prove what you are saying.

mmwadmin(at)gmail.com

First of all, the strip is from a web comic called XKCD (just google it and you'll find it).

Second of all, while I have never claimed to be a hacker, I do know that there is hacking software that cracks password by making guesses. Whether or not special characters are part of those guesses doesn't really matter when it's a matter of trying to remember your password.

If you can have an easy to remember password that a piece of software cannot crack within a reasonable amount of time and you occasionally change your password (and do other such practices) it saves you from the inevitable moments of forgetfulness concerning what the numbers and symbols were while still giving you a very high level of security.

Thanks
1 reply

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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

I like the

63 random printable ASCII characters:

option.

Joe Mobley

Thanks
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Ajay Tiwari

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe Mobley

https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

I like the option.

Joe Mobley

how will you remember that 63-64 character password...

normally max 10-15 characters password is enough ...

Thanks
2 replies

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mattmax 13 years ago

Originally Posted by ajaykt

how will you remember that 63-64 character password...

normally max 10-15 characters password is enough ...

You can use a password manager, assuming that the computer itself is secure.

Only passwords for online resources need such strong security, because those are the ones that are more likely to be targeted by automatic cracking attempts.

Use a "normal" password for your password manager, and crazy long passwords generated by a password tool for the online sites that would be bad to have compromised.
- Thanks
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Joe Mobley

13 years ago

Good question. I don't remember. Like mattmax said, password manager. I also keep them in a text file on an encrypted flash drive.

TrueCrypt is a wonderful thing. And it's free.

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux

Joe Mobley

Originally Posted by ajaykt

how will you remember that 63-64 character password...

normally max 10-15 characters password is enough ...

Thanks
1 reply

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Ajay Tiwari

13 years ago

Originally Posted by mattmax

You can use a password manager, assuming that the computer itself is secure.

Only passwords for online resources need such strong security, because those are the ones that are more likely to be targeted by automatic cracking attempts.

Use a "normal" password for your password manager, and crazy long passwords generated by a password tool for the online sites that would be bad to have compromised.

Yep that can be used but i would do such thing in case data or account have very much confidential information. Normally i don't keep my confidential data online, so i use the passwords as i mentioned above.

Originally Posted by Kom

They have nothing to do to hack somebody email

spam email alot...

You know some peoples just like to do bad things so precaution is better than cure

Originally Posted by Joe Mobley

Good question. I don't remember. Like mattmax said, password manager. I also keep them in a text file on an encrypted flash drive.

TrueCrypt is a wonderful thing. And it's free.

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux

Joe Mobley

Nice tool Joe, thanks for sharing it buddy...

Thanks

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dagaul101

13 years ago

It could possibly be that you responded to a phishing email and could have installed a backdoor on your PC unawares, sometimes a virus.trojan/backdoor/malware scan can identify and root out these pests

Thanks
2 replies

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Ajay Tiwari

13 years ago

Originally Posted by dagaul101

It could possibly be that you responded to a phishing email and could have installed a backdoor on your PC unawares, sometimes a virus.trojan/backdoor/malware scan can identify and root out these pests

Yes this can be scenario or possibly hacker have got access to his computer and installed one of above which you said or a keylogger which note downs every keystroke made on your pc...

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jackwebson

13 years ago

Originally Posted by dagaul101

It could possibly be that you responded to a phishing email and could have installed a backdoor on your PC unawares, sometimes a virus.trojan/backdoor/malware scan can identify and root out these pests

can you tell me how to detect this kind of malware or virus on my PC?

Thanks
1 reply

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Joe Mobley 13 years ago

Malwarebytes!

Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download

There is a free and paid version. I use the free version. They have a great forum. They helped me dig out a rootkit virus on another PC.

Joe Mobley

Originally Posted by jackwebson

can you tell me how to detect this kind of malware or virus on my PC?
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