It is the most important thing to keep in mind that it’s not always directly your activity that leads to a data breach or email breach, sometimes it’s because of the services you choose to use. Every now and then many companies get attacked frequently and most attacks are not very successful, eventually, even the most protected companies in the world get hacked by hackers. Every big company suffers from email breaches.
In simple words, to a third party revelation of personal details in an unauthorized way is a data breach. Your password, address, phone number, name, etc is the data that normally gets hacked. Then hackers utilized freshly harvested data to try to approach various services online. That’s the reason why the re-utilization of passwords is very dangerous. The thing to know is that one data breach would be enough for the hacker to collect all your information from your account, without even your fault.
Now comes the question of how you would be able to know that you have been hacked. Well, here comes the list of signs you need to notice.
- You will receive a ransomware message
- You will receive a fake antivirus message
- Suddenly you will have unaware and unwanted browser toolbars
- Your searches on the internet will get redirected
- You will see random or continuous popups
- Social media invitations will be received by your friends from your account that you didn’t send
- Your password stops working
- You will see not so expected software installs
- Sudden disabling of Registry Editor, Anti Malware, or Task Manager
- Missing money from your online account
- Someone will notify you regarding your account is been hacked
- Leakage of confidential data
- In a password dump is your credentials
- A strange network traffic patterns will be noticed by you
Now comes the 8 Most Common Causes of Data Breach
It seems like there is not a single day when you don’t hear the bad news that some company’s email been hacked or fighting against the email breach. To make sure that you don’t experience anything like this, make sure you go through these most common causes of data breaches and what you can do to alleviate the threats they present.
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Stolen or weak passwords or credentials
Hackers have an eagle eye on your details, and mostly the main cause of hacking is your weak or lost password. The passwords that are not strong tend to be more vulnerable and exposed to the opportunist hacker. As per the statistics, almost 4 out of 5 breaches have occurred because of weak or stolen credentials. So now you know one of the major causes, next time ensure that when you see a weak sign while creating a password, it is mandatory to make it stronger.
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Application, Back Doors susceptibility
Hackers like to exploit the applications that are poorly written or whose network system is poorly designed or even executed. Those holes that are open give the opportunity to the hackers to scroll straight through them and enter your data directly.
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Malware
On the rise in the utilization of direct and in-direct Malware both. It is malicious software that is loaded with intentions to open up access to exploit a connected system or main system for a hacker.
The only solution is to be very cautious when you access any website that is not what they look like and frequently opens up the email section. This not only looks like but for sure a method to spread malware.
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Social Engineering
Now, this is the most common and trending way to hack email. Social engineering is the manipulation of people psychologically into executing actions or admitting confidential details. It seems so easy for a hacker to tell you that you will get $10 Million US Dollars in some lucky draw and will ask for your email address. Now, this is the psychological game he/she pays with you. It’s your smartness to understand that when you have not participated in any such games and you don’t know the other party then how are you going to get this money? It’s highly dreamy and suspicious.
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Too Many Permissions
A gift to a hacker is highly complex access permissions. Organizations that don’t keep a check on who is getting access to what is more likely to welcome wrong people and give them access to them. This situation gives a smile to the hacker’s face and gives him/her a chance to exploit. Make sure that the access permissions are protected but are not too complex to make it easier for hackers.
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Insider Threats
It is not wrong to say that keep your enemies closer than your friends. As an annoying contractor or a rogue employee or normally those who are not very much serious when it comes to securing the passwords or credentials, simply give access to the wrong person and that person steals the data or breaches the email.
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Physical Attacks
Hackers do not sit in the back and wait for you to give a green single. They are always alert and wearing a visibility jacket that allows them to hack your computer system easily if it is not safe and secure. Make sure you have all sorts of authorized and authentic software to protect your system and email.
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Not proper Configuration, User Error
If there is any loophole in the configuration or there is any error then it gives hackers the chance to enter into your data. The only solution is to hire professionals for protecting your data and go for a strong procedure that can prevent errors and are likely to lead to fewer data breaches.
Final Words
Email breaches and data breaches can be very hazardous for any company. Hence make sure you have strong protection of data. Hopefully, the above-mentioned causes and signs will help you in the process of safeguarding confidential data. Go through the article properly and you will get a complete picture of how you can protect your data from getting hacked.
