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August 25, 2022

How they steal your social login information

How they steal your social login information

by Simone Renzi / August 25, 2022
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This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Once again we find ourselves talking about training in cybersecurity. Social networks have now become a must-have. Every one of us has registered with at least one social network. The uses to which one can put it are many and varied: ranging from catching up with childhood friends with whom one has lost touch, to advertising one’s business. Social networks are certainly a more or less useful distraction depending on one’s use of them, but it can also turn into a nightmarish experience if we fall into the traps of shady people who steal our passwords. We speak of a nightmare not so much because of the use that can be made of the photos, which can be easily downloaded without the need to steal passwords (since they are mostly public on social).

It can be a nightmare experience because the user/password combo could also be used for online payment systems such as PayPal or as a bank account password. In short, cybersecurity is a SERIOUS thing and must be treated as such.

In this other article we had talked about the importance of training. Being trained makes it possible to know how to recognize these kinds of scams and protect our data but also our economic accounts.

But let us now look at the most commonly used techniques for stealing utilities.

Phishing

Phishing is an ingenious method of stealing login data, and I purposely wanted to mention it first because it is also the most popular method used by Lamers.

It consists of creating a web page that is perfectly identical to the page on the referring site or social. By filling out the login form, our data ends up in the hands of the lamer.

For example, let’s say you are registered on Facebook.
The system for doing Phishing is totally automatic:

  • You receive a fake email from Facebook that induces you to log in by clicking on a link in the email
  • Upon clicking, the link does not point to the facebook.com domain but to another domain, e.g. fakebook.com
  • You are on a login page that is exactly the same as the facebook page
  • Pay no attention to the domain, which in most cases is somewhat similar to the original
  • Fill in your information in the form and confirm your access
  • The login fails because there is nothing behind that login page and you are asked to try again later
  • After a couple of attempts you abandon and all the passwords you tried to enter are saved within a database
  • The lamer is notified of the receipt of a new victim’s login information and uses it to access your account and do his or her bidding
  • In some cases the same tries to use that username and password combination to access other information: e.g. on e-mail, postal account, etc. etc.

How to protect yourself from Phishing

To protect against these kinds of attacks, there are a number of checks to be made.

  1. When an email arrives requesting connection to a portal where you are registered, the first thing to do is to verify the sender’s email address (although this can easily be forged). If already the sender’s email address has strange elements we can happily overlook it. Ex. support@fakebook.com
  2. This is a general rule… While it is easy to disguise an email address, it is IMPOSSIBLE to disguise a domain. Therefore every time you are in your browser entering your login information verify the trustworthiness of the domain name. If you are on the fakebook.com domain close the page immediately, if you are on the facebook.com domain you can proceed with confidence.
  3. It is always good to install antivirus software and keep it updated. Many of these messages are flagged, and a good antivirus can identify malicious mail and delete it.

Keylogger

This is a methodology of data theft that can be implemented either after installing software on the machine, or through the use of special hardware tools inserted between the keyboard connector and the motherboard connector.

A keylogger is more generically a tool for recording everything typed on a keyboard. In the case of software KeyLoggers, these make files containing all the text typed and systematically email it to the Lamer. In contrast, for hardware keyloggers, it is necessary to physically reach into the computer to make its serial entry to the keyboard and likewise remove it.

Keyloggers are not used solely for the purpose of stealing login data, but to steal information in general. As already mentioned, what they do is copy to a file everything that is typed on the keyboard.

How to Protect Yourself from Keyloggers

For software keyloggers, there is no other way but to install and keep updated a good antivirus.

For hardware keyloggers, the way to go is to check that nothing is in the way behind our computer between the keyboard plug and the USB or PS/2 connector on the PC. Often a keylogger could be hiding inside a simple adapter.

 

Remember to log out

The personal computer is so called precisely because it is personal. Many people access personal accounts from the office on computers that can be used by everyone looking for information and forget to log out. This, too, can expose you to risk. Therefore, whenever you have to log in from a computer that is not your personal one, always remember to log out and not to save mail the password in the browser.

 

Trojans

Who does not know the story of the Trojan Horse from the Aeneid? The giant Horse that the Greeks sent as a gift to Queen Dido filled with Agamemnon’s most valiant warriors led by Odysseus himself…

These kinds of viruses take the very story of the Trojan horse as an example. They creep inside our computer and start doing damage. This all happens in the background. The user does not notice anything, only noticing the presence of the Trojan when it is too late and the damage has already been done.

You can catch Trojans through e-mail attachments but also through the network by leaving ports open.

How to protect yourself from Trojans

The use of a Firewall and a good antivirus is recommended. As always remember that the use of antivirus may not be sufficient if it is not constantly updated in order to be able to recognize threats of new viruses.

 

There would also exist other methods, but the most widely used are the ones we have mentioned.
Now that you know the enemy and know how to defend yourself you can definitely navigate with more confidence and peace of mind.

Simone Renzi
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