What happens when a site is hacked

[chester ver2.0]

For all the computer guys out there

What happens to my personal details when a site is hacked.

Another forum that i am a member of has been hacked does this now mean my personal details name, email adress etc has now been compromised.

Apart from using fake details is there any way to counter this

[Bird]

For all the computer guys out there

What happens to my personal details when a site is hacked.

Another forum that i am a member of has been hacked does this now mean my personal details name, email adress etc has now been compromised.

Apart from using fake details is there any way to counter this

probably... anything is possible.. depends on what they accessed.
Open a Gmail account soley for forums.

Then use it for that with no Genuine personal in it...  They wont be able to access your email... Just have your email addy and now you will get spammed to Shit
as long as your passwords are not same on forum and your email you should be ok... but change them anyway..

[Goose]

You should always assume the worst. However, most forums however only gather small amounts of personal info (name, email, location) which on its own is not enough to identify you. So it would seem the risk is low.

However its not. The real problem is if you've used the same username, email address and password on this forum as you do on other forums, social networking etc. Then the risk becomes rather high.

This is called "password reuse" and its a very serious computer security problem.  People fall into this trap because its convenient to remember only one password.

A typical scenario is this: A person uses the same email address, username and password across many small sites like the other forum and also for big sites like facebook. Get those details from 1 weak site and you can use them on all the others.

They target small sites (like the other forum you're on) because they are easy targets compared to multi-billion-dollar corporations like facebook who spend big on security.

So, hackers will target low-security forum sites (like the forum you were on) to get the usernames, email address and passwords of the user base. They then use those details to access accounts on much higher security sites, like facebook etc. Once they are into your facebook they might post something offensive on your wall or they might go snooping in your messages. Lets say they find a message between you and a friend detailing your bank account number. They can work out what bank that is and along with other details from facebook (like where you live, work, your bitthday, postcode, mobile phone etc) they could try and easily impersonate you with that bank in the hope of accessing your bank account. Or they could sell your details to others.

Alternatively, if you are using a gmail or hotmail account on these forums and the password to that mail account is the same in the forums, then the hacker can now log into your mail account. They could then use this position to garner further info about you (such as emailed bank statements), change your password on other services like facebook and take control of those accounts or just be a pest in some other way. When you hear about Hollywood stars having their twitter/facebook accounts hacked, this is usually how it happens.

What do now? Log into all the other sites that you use the same username or email address on and change your password. Do it right now.

Always make sure sites like facebook, linkedin, twitter use different passwords.

Always make sure online mail accounts use different passwords again.

Always make sure banking sites use different passwords again.

[Goose]

as long as your passwords are not same on forum and your email you should be ok... but change them anyway..

+1

[nick_4x4]

Running a hosting company i get this alot, normally its just people who dont use secure passwords that come under attack.

My suggestion is to change all your passwords no matter if they are different or not.

An old client of mine had his email stolen (hacked) and all his information was in there, a paypal account password many forums and even all his billing accounts for websites and domains, he was lucky that he could have most passwords changed prior to anything bad happening, his main concern was his 10000+ members in his database that had been stolen, each member (including me) was sent spam email for the next 3 months and still today i get some spam.

You should be ok with your passwords if the forum you were on uses good security for its database, not running the database off the same server as the website is a good start, if they dont have a secure server or a good host who would have locked down the database as soon as reported then you could be getting some spam, but dont worry too much its not easy to steal passwords from a database.

If you have a good anit spam filter on your email accounts use it and you wont even notice that it has happened.

Nick.

[firefox]

Hi Chester send me a pm and ill talk to u offline.
Most of the time they are really after your email as u will get on a spam list or 100 of them.
Did u have sensitive info, I.e was it a paid forum, if so what details did they have?
Cheers
Justin

[evans52]

I've just gone through a period where I've been getting a lot of "Mail System Error" emails ie apparent Undeliverable Mail. It's nothing but spam. I was getting around 10+ a day, but now they are filtering off.

Must be the all the "naughty stuff" the Wife visits.

[SteveandViv]

For all the computer guys out there

What happens to my personal details when a site is hacked.

Another forum that i am a member of has been hacked does this now mean my personal details name, email adress etc has now been compromised.

Apart from using fake details is there any way to counter this

There is a bit going around. The Pajero Forum has had a few and the Camping Australia sit also.  Are you sure your ID was hacked or did you get a message saying that there were attempts on your account.