HOW TO HACK AN EMAIL ACCOUNT ..

Email Hacking

Email hacking is one of the prevailing hot topics in the field of ethical hacking. A hacker
can gain access to a wide variety of private information about the target user if he manager
to hack his/her email account. Some of the possible ways to hack email accounts are
discussed below.

Keylogging

Using a spyware program such as keylogger is the easiest way to hack an email or any
other online account password. All you need to do is just install the keylogger program on
the computer where the target user is likely to access his/her email account from. These
spyware programs are designed to operate in a total stealth mode and hence remains
completely hidden from normal users. Once the keystrokes are recorded you can unlock
the program using a hot key combination or password to view the logs. The logs contain
all the keystrokes typed on the computer keyboard including the usernames and
passwords.
Modern keylogger programs like Realtime-Spy, SpyAgent and SniperSpy supports
remote monitoring feature where you can view the logs even from a remote location.
Some of them also have a feature to send logs through email and FTP.
Even though keyloggers can make the hacking process a lot simpler, they have a few
drawbacks. Most of these programs have to be installed manually on the target computer
for which you need to have physical access to it. Also, there is a chance of anti-spyware
programs detecting and deleting the keylogger installation on the computer.

Phishing

Phishing is another popular and highly effective technique used by attackers to hack email
and other online accounts. Most Internet users would easily fall prey and become victims
to this type of attack. However, to device a phishing attack, one has to have at least a basic
knowledge of HTML and programming.

Steps Involved in Phishing Attack:

The hacker first creates a replica of the target login page such as Gmail, Yahoo! or
any other online account.

This page is designed to submit all login information (username and password) on the
form fields to a local database instead of the actual website. Hacker would use a
scripting language such as PHP and a database such as MySQL to accomplish this.
Once the page is integrated to the script and database, the hacker uploads the whole
setup to a hosting server so as to make the phishing page go online.
The hacker chooses a matching domain (such as gamil.com, gmail-account.com,
yahoo-mail.com etc.) for his phishing page so as to avoid any suspicion.
Once the phishing page is live and working, the hacker drives people to this phishing
page by spreading the phishing link via email, Internet Messenger and forums.
Since phishing pages look exactly the same as the real one, people enter their login
details on these pages where they are stolen away and gets stored in the hacker’s
database.

Session Hijacking

As discussed earlier, it is possible to gain access to an email account through session
hijacking. By stealing the cookies of an active session and injecting them to one’s own
browser, it is possible to gain access to the target email account. However, if the target
user closes his/her ongoing session by logging out, you will no longer be able to access the
account. Also, unlike keylogging and phishing, this method does not grant you the
password of the target account and hence you will not be able to re-access it at a later
time.

Unlocking Stored Passwords

Most users prefer to store the password details of email and other online accounts in the
browser to enable speedy access. Sometimes login details of offline email clients such as
Outlook are also stored on the computer. This makes them vulnerable to hackers. Nirsoft
provides a handful of free tools to recover such stored passwords on Windows. You can
download the tools from the link provided below:
Download: http://www.nirsoft.net/password_recovery_tools.html

Email Hacking Countermeasures

Below are some of the countermeasures that you can adopt to prevent your email and
other online accounts from getting hacked:
Install a good antivirus and anti-spyware program on your computer and keep them
up-to-date.
Password protect your operating system so that no one can access your computer in
your absence.
Always perform a malware scan on programs before installing them.
Avoid accessing your accounts in public places such as cyber cafes.
Make sure that HTTPS is on when you are accessing your emails.
Do not click on the links in your email or forum to enter the login page. Instead
always type the URL of the website in the browser’s address bar and also make sure
that HTTPS is enabled on your login page.
Avoid storing your login details on the browser unless you are the only user on the
computer.


IMPORTANT NOTICE – All the information provided in this blog is strictly for educational purpose only, and any illegal or unethical use of this information will not be the responsibility of the blog  .. And  as your well wisher in would say “ please use them carefully and ethically “ it will keep you out of many troubles  ..