how to hack into someone's account in less than 15 mins

Live experiment shows people can learn how to hack into someone’s account in less than 15 mins

http://blog.cpp.co.uk/index.php/articles/view/live-experiment-shows-people-can-learn-how-to-hack-into-someones-account-in

Have you heard the one about the criminal in the internet cafe? Someone sits next to him, gives him their credit cards, and all of their passwords. They also give him the addresses of all their friends and family, for good measure.

Lucky criminal, right? Actually, he’s just committed a very simple and frequent crime.

While using unsecure internet connections, millions of victims are unknowingly showcasing their most private and valuable information – and they have no idea who’s watching.

Firebrand Training recently demonstrated for CPP how easy it is to teach anyone how to hack. This technique can be – and has been - used to steal millions of pounds from unsuspecting victims. The hacking technique is called a ‘man in the middle’ attack.

In simple terms, it places the hacker between the unsuspecting victim, and what he or she is viewing on the internet. This means that every piece of information that the victim sends or receives, passes via the hacker. Credit card details? Yes please. Passwords? These too.

This is made possible by a piece of software, freely available to download. When the hacker runs the software, he collects the victim’s usernames and passwords in clear text on his screen. These details can be used by the hacker, to log-in to the victim’s email or online shopping account, either then and there or at a later date. You can guess the rest.

Not only is this software readily available, but there are also hundreds of thousands of tutorial videos online. The beauty of the internet.
It took us just fourteen minutes to teach members of the public to become hackers (they signed a disclaimer saying they wouldn’t use their new skills for illegal or malicious attacks).

Hacking can threaten us every day of our lives – but not only when we’re sat in front of a PC. From accessing Wi-Fi in a coffee shop or checking emails on a smartphone, through to playing on a games console at home - there’s someone out there who’s learning how to get closer to your personal information.
Worryingly, it’s the major organisations that are often leaving themselves exposed to these kinds of attacks. Many companies, of all sizes, continue to leave their network visible to potential attackers by using pre-set security settings and inadequate passwords. That’s why there are also ‘ethical hackers’ out there. The cyber super hero. These Certified Ethical Hackers are trained to use the tools of a hacker. To think like a hacker. They help organisations pre-test their own systems for potential weaknesses that could be compromised by a hacker.

It pays to know your enemy...

There are a number of steps people can take to protect their information from hackers:

• Change your passwords regularly - the longer and more obscure, the better
• Leave a website if you notice strange behaviour (unknown certificates, pop-ups etc.)
• Avoid transmitting sensitive data over public (free or otherwise) Wi-Fi
• When seeking Wi-Fi connections: know who you are connecting to, be wary of free Wi-Fi access
• If using a smartphone: disable Wi-Fi ‘auto-connect’

Remember the Golden Rule - unless you know your connection is secure, do not communicate any information or data that you wouldn’t feel comfortable shouting across a crowded room.