Sep 18, 2008 7:44 pm US/Eastern
Hacking Personal E-Mails Is As Easy As 1, 2, 3
Sarah Palin Incident Could Happen To Anyone, At Any Time; CBS 2 HD Has Some Tips To Help Protect You
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The FBI and Secret Service have launched a joint investigation into the apparent hacking of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's private e-mail.
Just how did this happen? And could your private postings also be at risk?
"Looks like it's my turn in Dan's crosshairs now," reads the subject of one e-mail. So who does it belong to? None other than Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the latest victim of computer hacking.
And you could be next.
"It frightens me how easy it is to do," said Lane Ulanoff, editor of PCMagazine.com.
Ulanoff showed CBS 2 HD how the same steps that let you retrieve your password once you've forgotten it can easily let a hacker or former friend take over your email account, and every sensitive e-mail, or picture in Palin's case, contained within.
"In this case it didn't matter how strong the password was because they didn't need to know the password," Ulanoff said. "They only had to know bits and pieces of info about you and then they could reset the password.
"How hard is it if you're the governor of Alaska to find her birth date and zip code? Not at all. Anybody can do that."
And while only mundane communications were found while the hackers were snooping around, it did expose Gov. Palin discussing some state business on a non-governmental account.
"That's supposed to be so you can protect the public, protect that information and also for verification going back later to see who said what when," Ulanoff said.
Keep in mind, you're even more likely to be hacked if you are checking your e-mail from a wireless hot-spot, so you need to be extra vigilant with changing passwords and choosing appropriate security questions.
Not all email accounts are the same. Some like Gmail offer additional protection if you're logging on from various unsecured locations.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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