Big accounts getting hacked. Advice needed...

thatPaul

thatPaul

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Two major accounts I know got hacked and blackmailed yesterday.

Both lost ALL their images.

One got their account back pretty quick (thanks to IG).
The other is still fighting to get it back while the account has dropped 20k followers already!

The hackers renamed the accounts/wiped the pics and started posting spam...

Chatting to one of the above owners they were pretty hot with security. They still have no idea how it happened.

These guys only have personal accounts, used by themselves only, no bots, they are not BHW people.

So my question is how the hell did it happen? And if big accounts are randomly getting hit what can WE do to maximize our security??

Any advice appreciated.
 
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In situations like this it's typically someone that already had access.
The second most likely alternative is the owners share too much personal information online.
The third would be sniffing or phishing.

How many people have access to the accounts?

For important accounts I'd suggest never using real information for security questions in general.
Honestly I'm not big on IG so I'm not even sure if they use SQs but it's a common entry point.

Also the owners should not use passwords they've ever used for anything else.
Let's just say that when someone successfully "hacks" a website, they tend to take the emails and passwords they've obtained and then check all of the major payment processors and social media sites to see if the login information is the same.

There's really not enough information to give an answer but what's above typically covers issues like this.
 
Last edited:
Some of them won't tell u how it happen as they don't know it but chances are they got phishing link and fall for it
 
TriumphWare said:
In situations like this it's typically someone that already had access.
The second most likely alternative is the owners share too much personal information online.
The third would be sniffing or phishing.

How many people have access to the accounts?

For important accounts I'd suggest never using real information for security questions in general.
Honestly I'm not big on IG so I'm not even sure if they use SQs but it's a common entry point.

Also the owners should not use passwords they've ever used for anything else.
Let's just say that when someone successfully "hacks" a website, they tend to take the emails and passwords they've obtained and then check all of the major payment processors and social media sites to see if the login information is the same.

There's really not enough information to give an answer but what's above typically covers issues like this.
Click to expand...

No thanks for the advice that makes a lot of sense. The accounts were just run buy one person so maybe it was phishing or they used an identical password on an easier hacked website...

ILearnSEO said:
one of the accounts is 9gag main if im not wrong.
Click to expand...

Wasn't 9Gag, they get hit too?
 
thatPaul said:
No thanks for the advice that makes a lot of sense. The accounts were just run buy one person so maybe it was phishing or shared passwords with more easier hacked websites...




Wasn't 9Gag, they get hit too?
Click to expand...

The page was renamed and spam pic was uploaded exactly everty 2.5 min. but inn less than 2 hrs they got back
 
ILearnSEO said:
The page was renamed and spam pic was uploaded exactly everty 2.5 min. but inn less than 2 hrs they got back
Click to expand...

I haven't experienced this type of hacking until yesterday and it sounds like at least 3 big accounts all got hit about the same time and maybe by the same people.

Is it just a coincidence or a sign of things to come?

Have others seen much of this before?
 
These hacker mostly use those account for CPA. Did you by any chance enter your info in a fake site?
 
iulianalex said:
Probabily phishing.....
Click to expand...

yeah, that must be it, unless they used "12345" as their password :) .

Anyway, it amazes me how people can fall for this, it's quite simple, never ever log in anywhere else but on the main site.... unless you have a test account that you don't care about
 
3 years ago when Instagram was just starting to really take off I had a 205k account.. Everyday I would get messages on kik from different users saying, "to secure your account please enter this email into your account." Of course they would try to force me to so they could hack my account. I would just lol. My other favorite was they would send me messages telling me how I could gain more followers if I put their email in my bio. Just have to be street smart on the internet thats all I can say. When I was managing a 700k+ some guy asked for my skype and I gave it to him. Then he claimed to have my IP and blackmail me, "give me a shoutout or I will destroy your PC".. LOL the IP he had was no where near accurate, but I always use a VPN on my iPhone so I lol'd at him. Just a couple my experiences.
 
MidtownMan said:
3 years ago when Instagram was just starting to really take off I had a 205k account.. Everyday I would get messages on kik from different users saying, "to secure your account please enter this email into your account." Of course they would try to force me to so they could hack my account. I would just lol. My other favorite was they would send me messages telling me how I could gain more followers if I put their email in my bio. Just have to be street smart on the internet thats all I can say. When I was managing a 700k+ some guy asked for my skype and I gave it to him. Then he claimed to have my IP and blackmail me, "give me a shoutout or I will destroy your PC".. LOL the IP he had was no where near accurate, but I always use a VPN on my iPhone so I lol'd at him. Just a couple my experiences.
Click to expand...

What VPN do you use for your phone?

And you can actually get IP's from skype contacts. Quite hesitant to use it now, because I actually got ddosed once because of it.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, it wasn't my account but it must have been phishing, just crazy two big accounts got hit on the same day.

longdouble said:
Hey! What about two-factor authentication? This should help alot.
Click to expand...

How does two-factor authentication work on IG? I don't have facebook but was curious if creating a fake account (I could add for verification) would help beef up security or give the hackers another route in?

When resetting passwords on IG (via a phone) you have 3 options to reset:

1)By Email
2)By SMS
3)By Facebook

Thoughts appreciated...
 
An account with >=200K followers is worth buying a dedicated physical phone and a SIM card. This means you will have a real phone number. Attach this number to a two-factor authentication field. Each time you login you will be sent an SMS. Done. Nobody can hack you.
 
longdouble said:
An account with >=200K followers is worth buying a dedicated physical phone and a SIM card. This means you will have a real phone number. Attach this number to a two-factor authentication field. Each time you login you will be sent an SMS. Done. Nobody can hack you.
Click to expand...

I think its a great idea but do you mean attach that number to an email account so the email doesn't get hacked?

This can't be done with IG alone can it?
 
coitza said:
yeah, that must be it, unless they used "12345" as their password :) .

Anyway, it amazes me how people can fall for this, it's quite simple, never ever log in anywhere else but on the main site.... unless you have a test account that you don't care about
Click to expand...

Darnit, I knew I shouldn't have put my passwords into MassPlanner. I'm scared now!
 
longdouble said:
An account with >=200K followers is worth buying a dedicated physical phone and a SIM card. This means you will have a real phone number. Attach this number to a two-factor authentication field. Each time you login you will be sent an SMS. Done. Nobody can hack you.
Click to expand...

100% absolute rubbish. Do you think these hackers just use the password and then simply login? They gain information on the account owner and then social engineer their way to getting the account.
 
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