What Is Account Hijacking?

When you think of identity theft, you probably imagine someone using your credit card to buy something they didn't have the money for. While this is a common way for thieves to get away with their crimes, it's not the only way. Did you know that there are other types of identity theft? One such type is account hijacking. Account hijacking is when an individual's email account, computer account or any different account associated with a computing device or service is stolen or hijacked by a hacker. The hacker then uses the information from the stolen account to carry out malicious or unauthorized activity. Account hijacking can occur when an individual clicks on an email link in an email message which takes them to a fake website where they are asked for personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers. This type of attack is known as phishing. Another way in which account hijackers can steal information is by installing keylogging software on your computer so that they can see everything you enter into any web form on your screen and then use this information to log into your accounts without needing your password! Hacking is a bad guy's game. When it comes to hacking, some bad guys are just downright clever. Take account hijacking, for example. It happens when a hacker uses a compromised email account to impersonate the account owner. Typically, this is done through phishing, spoofed emails to the user, password guessing, or other hacking tactics. An email account is often linked to a user's various online services, such as social networks and financial accounts. The hacker can use the account to retrieve personal information, perform financial transactions, create new accounts, ask their contacts for money or help with illegitimate activities. It's not just limited to stealing money either—account hijacking can be used to steal personal data like credit card numbers or customer lists from businesses too!