Risks Behind Stolen Email Credentials Remain Unforeseen

[Peaches]

Jul15

Risks Behind Stolen Email Credentials Remain Unforeseen

Apart from the hassle of losing access to your email accounts, criminals usually target these to plunder data about your other accounts. Controlling your email account enables them to “reset your passwords” in many websites. Usually those websites whose “welcome” emails you keep in your email inbox include your user names and sometimes your passwords. In addition, your email contacts can also be added to spam databases. You could end up (indirectly) spamming your friends.

Social network accounts are even more useful for cybercriminals because besides plundering your friends’ email addresses, the bad guys can also send bad links around and try to steal the social networking credentials of your friends. There is a reason why there is a price for stolen social networking accounts.

Neither is it exactly true that there is “no money” in social networking. For example, Facebook now has its own “virtual currency,” Facebook Credits. You can use the credits to buy virtual goods either on Facebook itself or, more likely, in the many online games that use Facebook as platform. (Virtual goods is big business—it’s estimated that Americans spent US$1 billion on virtual goods in 2009.)

Full story - http://blog.trendmicro.com/