Set a Trap for Email Hackers and Snoops
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Is There a Hacker in the House?
Your e-mail account is a gold mine of personal and financial data and information. In PC World online magazine, one phisher claimed he could make thousands everyday by hacking into private e-mail accounts and reselling the information he found there.
Often you can't tell anyone has been snooping your account. After reading a juicy tidbit, the interloper simply marks the e-mail as unread and you are none the wiser. Fortunately, with just a little bit of knowledge you can set an electronic trip wire that will notify you when someone has read your carefully rigged e-mail. You are going to learn how to build the trap, bait it with a particularly juicy morsel, and then set the trap where they won't miss it or be able to resist the delicious snack.
It must be pointed out that this will not work against a real hacker or someone who has a strong knowledge of computers. They would never fall for something so simple. This is meant for the casual snooper. The nosy husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, lover, roommate, parent, siblings, or even a friend. So why not just change your password? Absolutely, you should. But we don't always pick the strongest password because we don't want to forget them, or we store it in file on our computers or on paper, all of which are easily discovered. It may also be a matter of trust. If your spouse has always known your password and you change it and won't tell them, you have planted a seed of suspicion in their mind. This lets them break the trust first. Whoever it is, we hate meeces to pieces.
Computer Protection
I must emphasize once again that you should not feel complacent about your computer security. There are more viruses, spyware, and hackers than ever before, and you must have excellent virus protection, a superior firewall, and a top-notch anti-hacker/anti-trojan horse programs. It's one of those things that many people will get to “tomorrow,” but do yourself a favor and do it today. When your computer crashes and burns, when you lose your bank accounts and your identity to scoundrels, you will regret not having taken precautions. You're not paranoid if they're really out to get you...and they are out to get you.
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Build a Better Mouse Trap
I came across this while looking for information on a suspected hacker, a real one, so it was not useful to me. However, I could see how it could be useful to many people in a variety of circumstances. I did test the system though and it does work.
Our first step is to build the trap to catch your nosy mouse. This system was created by Eric Larkin of PC World and Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security. The idea of it is to put a message in your e-mail account that includes the code for a Web hit counter. When your mouse opens the attachment, they spring the trap, which alerts you that you have caught you mouse. Don't worry. It's a humane trap and no mice were harmed in the testing of this system.
Here's what you do:
- First get a disposable e-mail address. There are many such services, but I used Mailinator.com.
- Go to OneStatFree.com and register for a free Web hit counter account. Where you are asked for your URL, enter anything you wish (again, this comes from PCWorld.com) and use the disposable e-mail address you already set up.
- Now go back to your disposable e-mail account for the OneStat mail. It should come with an attached file named OneStatScript.txt. If it's not there, click on the link provided to see it. Save that file (it gives you the directions) and write down your account number. Then delete the e-mail, which has your account details.
- Here is where you bait the trap. Decide who it is who may access your account and what they would be looking for. If you think they would be most interested in seeing communications between you and a member of the opposite sex, name the file something like “Bambi's pics and letters.” If it's financial information, something like “Bank Passwords” should do the trick. Also make it an .htm file when you save it, so it will open automatically in a Web browser (thereby springing the trap.)
- Send an e-mail to the account you want to place your trap with your file as an attachment. Put a similarly tasty subject line, such as “Bambi's pics!”
Now just sit back a wait for your mouse to take the bait. If someone opens your rigged attachment, the hit will be recorded, as well as information about them including their IP address. Just log into your account at OneStatFree.com and check the counter. It will show you that you've caught a mouse, and how many mice you caught
Then on the sidebar, choose Visits – Last visitor, and you'll see the screen below. If the IP address matches your own, you've got them. If it doesn't, compare it to the IP address of your friends who might have been in a position to steal your password.
As I said, don't let your cute little trap lull you into a false sense of security. It may work against a common household mouse, but you don't stand a chance against a professional rat. For that reason I urge you to invest in good computer security programs as soon as possible, change your passwords regularly, and do not store any sensitive data on your computer. Happy hunting.
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Comments
Hi, Pam, and thanks. I hope it does bring in some traffic. As usual, thanks for the comment!
My mice are dead. I got it too. PC World is one of my favs. Good job Chris.
so cheese won't work, then?
C.C. Thanks for stopping in. Did you try giving your mouse mouth to mouth?
Teresa: Well, a bit of cheese on your keyboard is handy for a snack. Thanks for the comment.
Chris -
That only works (or doesn't work really) on hamsters.
As for this tip, I consulted with my netgeek guru (husband) and he agreed that this would work on your basic snoop. I'm very fortunate that I married a man who does computer security for a living...on the flip side, I had better never try to sneak anything past him. :)
Love ya...err...I mean I like you (to husband: he's JUST a friend, really!)
Hi Spryte: Yeah. Wouldn't stand a chance against someone knowledgeable. For one thing, they would never open an attachment in the persons browser; they would download it first and open it with an editor (whoops! Would you look at that? I just told parents how not to fall for this if they're snooping their kid's email, cause that would just be WRONG!)
Thanks for the comment. Love you too ("What's that honey? No, no, Sprytes a dude!" Turns back to Spryte. Wink.)
This is great!
I am always amazed by the number of people on answerbag and advice.com who ask, "I was checking out my SO's e-mail/facebook account the other day, and I found a message from 2 years ago that says, 'blah,blah,blah - baby, baby, you're so hot - blah,blah...' Should I be jealous? What should I do? What should I say? How should I react?"
I always tell them to stop snooping and mind their own business, but now I'll tell them to have their SO check out your article! :)
justmesuzanne: Hi! Thanks so much for the great comment. It might help nip some destructive behavior in the bud. I appreciate your stopping by!
Hey Chris
You'd get my vote for the best all-around hubber! This is really good, like some email security for dummies (like me). Thanks for the lecture, again. I always feel educated when I get off your hubs. Thanks for sharing :D
This is a nice trick. I'm not worried about anyone in my home reading my email. They can read all they like, there is absolutely nothing in any email of mine that I wouldn't share with my family. My home puter is set to suck email off my Email servers every 20 minutes or so, automatic as long as this computer is on. It only piles up if I turn this one off. I am more concerned with someone hacking the mail server where my email is stored before I get it.
Cris: Well that's one hell of a compliment coming from you. Wish it were true. Glad you feel I educate you - since you educate me - but and long as were talking about me lecturing: Don't forget to wash behind your ears!
Hot Dorkage: I could never have that automatic delete thing going. It's good you can trust everyone around you...but those darn servers! Here's what you need: One server facility Ninja hacker neutralizer. I think they advertise in the back of Soldier of Fortune magazine. Thanks for the comment!
Honestly - is there anything you don't know?? I'm going green here - but thanks Christoph - that was great info stated so clearly and simply. Now if I can't follow those instructions, I should kick my you-know-what off the virtual world!
Shalini: Hi! Glad you had a chance to come by and say hello. Always great to see you. Peace out!
I was thinking of something more low tech. Like keeping my laptop in its case with a real mouse trap set in there. You know the ones with the little plastic cheese and wire guillotine! That'd learn him.
My s/o and I know each other's passwords, and share selected files with a software called Magic Network, we do this for business and also for our creative projects such as photo sharing. Its interesting, since our computers are so available, the need to snoop on each other's emails is not there; I would feel like a peeping Tom if I were to read his emails. Same with my sis who lives in another State, I have her passwords, for business reasons, but it gives me access to her private email addresses... not once have I looked at her personal emails. I would be more concerned with a hacker, as I had a computer meltdown in Feb.
Good to know there are programs which can detect intruders.
Thumbs up!
Randy: Yeah, but would it disable him? Still, it would be a lot more fun. Thanks for coming by and having a chat!
Violet: Glad you don't have to worry about "spousal spyal," but you may feel different during the divorce (just kidding, but peoples situations change, and what seems unneccessary today could be essential tomorrow....not you, of course,) however, you recently suffered through a meltdown, and I myself just removed two virus' from my computer a half-hour ago that were wreaking havoc with my system. So, perhaps I could direct your attention to the many fine products on this page.....
Clever wee bugger, love it !
badcompany: Glad you stopped by and enjoyed it. Thanks for the comment.
Chris: I am glad I am aware of these products you mentioned, as yes, my computer was totally destroyed by a virus, had to purchase a new one. Aaargh. Did you know there is a software that is installed in laptops, and if someone steals the laptop, the software provider can find out where the thief/laptop is located. Cool stuff! :::did I say cool?, yup:::::::
Violet: That's a shame about your computer. Yes, there are programs you can buy to track a stolen computer and install yourself. "Lojack" is one, which I have not tried so I am not endorsing. 81% of U.S. companies reported losing or having computers stolen containing sensitive data last year. Whether the computer manufacturer installs such a program on your computer depends on the company. It's interesting to note though that anyone can have this same protection for about $40 bucks. Totally "cool," as the good guys need as much sophistication as possible to thwart the bad guys.
Thanks for your comment!
This is so simple for a simple person like me to understand, I like the idea of this, but yes having the proper security precautions just seems more better, this would be even more useful if I knew a lot of people who were close to me that I didn't trust, but I don't, oh well....great information nonetheless!!
waynet: Certainly, this idea is not practical for everyone, but for those that could benefit from it, it can be useful. Glad you found it easy to understand.
It's good you don't have any people around you that you don't trust, so long as your trust is not misplaced. We need to fix you up with a good, nosy woman. Thanks for the comment!
You covered some very good points here... our world is not for the gullable anymore.
great hub again
regards Zsuzsy
Zsuzsy: Definitely not for the gullable. Oh, those were the good old days. Thanks for stopping by and the comment!
Interesting idea, like you said it wouldn't work with a real hacker, but has potential for an ex or something.
Another trick you have to watch out for is someone setting up your new mail to automatically forward to a different address. Most mail services, like gmail, offer this and it allows them to forward all of your mail or even only mail from a specific address, such as from your bank.
If they do this, they could set it up to forward and delete it, so you would never even know you got it, or to simply forward an extra copy.
brad41: Yes, or even in the case of malice, using your e-mail account to send out inflammatory letters to acquaintances, so checking your sent mail is a good idea.
Thanks for the visit and the comment!
I will have to look more into this CR, as my jealous wife has already snooped once before and didn't like what she saw. But no worries, I craftily turned the tables of the argument against her as she became the bad person for invading my privacy. However, there is not a day that goes by where I feel completely safe, from her.
GT: Yeah, that can be an unpleasant thing. So many things can be miscontrued where things are imagined into situations and scenarios they aren't. It can be frustrating explaining everything to someone who has already imagined things into the most bizarre scenarios than you could even dream of. Good luck with that.
Nice info Christoph. I worry about online security. Professional hackers just hit another American security node yesterday and skuttled off with some major aircraft design info, so that sort of says that the more valuable your online business, the more risk there is of being hacked for your earnings. I have found that many elaborate traps are needed just to keep what you have earned online away from hackers.
Ernest: Hey! I hadn't heard that about yesterday's theft. They're brutal. If the aeronautics companies are that vulnerable, just think about our little home jobbies. Might as use what is available to us to at least thwart the little guys. Thanks for the comment!
Yikes. I never think about this. Never. I really should. If course, maybe it is because I have so little worth stealing...if somebody wants MY identity, hey, that's so sad, so sad... Still, an informative hub as always, thank you very much!
Ooooooo love this it is so juicy. I am going to do it, this is going to be better than catching mice in my cupboard wooooooo hoooooooooo
pgrundy: I don't know, Pam. Somebody from the bank might come in and try to steal all you anti-banking articles!
Deb: You're so cute. woooooooo hooooooooo
Now, this sounds like fun, in a Miss Marple kind of way! Very sneaky, very intriguing. I'm peeking at who's peeking at my personal emails? Of course, I'm the only one on my computer but maybe somebody somewhere else is dieing to know if Mel Gibson is sending me notes. Could happen.
You did such a great job of explaining this that even I (the extreme non-techy) understood the instructions. Great job!
Mostly, I've missed everybody and wanted to come see what was shakin'.
Hi Shirley! I'll bet there's some love letters from Mel on there somewhere.
Yes, you've kind of been locked up in hubnuggetville. Is everything back to normal? I miss your regular writing (not that your hubnugget writing isn't perfectly wonderful!) Glad you had a chance to stop by and leave a comment!
Hola. Great hub...useful info. Just be careful of your computer being infected with a bot and sending information (like your hub profile password) to people with malicious intent. If the attacker is actually smart, commercial software won't detect this. If your network icon appears constantly busy, even if you're just watching the computer, chances are you are part of a botnet.
kea: I'll certainly keep my eyes peeled for a bot. Thanks for the tip!
interesting topic from an interesting friend. (I mean: Where can you find all this time to waste?)
Waste? What are you referring to? You're saying writing for hubpages is a waste of time? An interesting thought coming from someone who himself "wastes his time" by publishing here.
You explained everything, as usual, fabulously. But who again was the test mouse you tried this on? Just kidding.
Lifebydesign: Hi! Unfortunately, I had to be the mouse too. Nobody is interested in my online shenanigans. Thanks for the comment!
Christoph,
I mean hunting down guys who do meaningless things on the internet. There will be countless witches to catch.
Benson: Yeah, I just have a lot of extraneous stuff going on this morning. Sorry if it leaked over to here. Thanks for the comment.
cool post .
Thanks. I appreciate it. I like your site so I'll let the link stay.
Hi Christoph,
no need to apologize. I was the one who provoked you in the first place. Am I forgiven?
Benson: Of course. You're a good guy.
This is scary...thank you for the info. Im actually changing my passwords now. I had a recent creepy activity on Myspace which I should hub about. Someone hacked my account, stole my pics, my html cdes, my name... everything... and tried getting my friends to add them. It was like a double of me, a clone, a fake.. and worst part was Myspace refused to even help me till I threatned a lawsuit against identity theft. They said at first that it was not against their TOS. LOL... Bullshit! Someone posing as me may not be against their shit TOS, but Im pretty sure its against the law!!!
Mella: You might want to look into downloading a password scrambler. What it does is take your basic password, say MellasViews, and with the touch of a key scrambles it so that it could never be figured out by another party or program. You would still only have to enter MellasViews, but the program would unscramble that to match the scrambles mess it had turned it into in the first place. You would have the only key to do this. I am just now looking into it. When I learn about it and how to do it, I'll let you know. You might try asking Ernestshubs about it.
Sorry about your account, but thanks for coming by and the comment.
Very interesting subject. Thanks for writing.
laswi: Thank you for reading!
Very impressive, as always, CR! Anyone who tries to sneak into someone else's personal info via email is no mouse. S/he is a giant cyber sewer rat!
MM: Thanks you so much. I agree. Everyone understands it is wrong to open somebodys US mail, but for some reason to consider email to be the same thing. But it is. Rats indeed!
Such a nice hub! Very timely and relevant! It would do us some good if you could write on the Nigerian scams that lure people into providing their bank details by putting a bait of some significant amount of money.
Nice article. But I have a doubt. I remember seeing that some times, outlook and other mail clients don't load contents from other webite intially. They just show u a link and u have to click on it to download those contents. isn't it?
If they don't click on tht link, then how do u tract those ones?
Very Good Techie Information...
flamingoes: Thank you very much. Many articles about the Nigerian scams have been written about on HubPages already. Thanks you for the kind words!
Cyberram: That may be true. I tested it using Gmail and had no problem. Thanks for your comment.
Raky. Thank you.
wow! i didn't know this was possible to do. thanks for this. i'm gonna try it out right away!
Frosted Flakes: I think you should. Your boyfriend might sneak on there looking for WoW the next time you take it away from him.
Whoa! This is going to come in very handy, thanks!
I must echo other comments that this is very good and well written. I'm no expert, but I enjoyed reading it and found the info valuable.
Harold Daily: Thanks for stopping in and taking the time to leave your comment. I appreciate it!
Great stuff, I have bookmarked this. Sad to see so many hackers are out there.
cgull8m: Thanks for reading and for the comment! It is a shame indeed.
Just came across this and it's great information. I am really too laid back with my passwords. Everyone in my house knows what they are, but I trust them so I guess it's ok. I never thouhgt about outsiders trying to get into my email and other accounts though. i guess I should be worried about that though. Thanks for the advice.
gwendy: Thanks, Gwen. Yes, but do you trust your dog? When you're not home, your dog is accessing your computer, reading your email, and looking at naked pictures of cats!
CR, now I know where those kitty porn pop up are coming from! I really thought her paws were too big to type, but I guess she has figured it out, she's so smart.
Gwendymom: Oh yeah. They can extend their little claws, or those who have been de-clawed have learned to take little pencils in their paws and type by the hunt-n-peck method. Ha, ha! Be careful, they might give your computer that kitty litter virus Spryte wrote about.
i was just thinking that there should be some way of detecting intrusions, this is gold dude!
Cellar Door: Hey, thanks a lot. It's a pretty cool idea and I was lucky to stumble upon it. Glad you liked it!
Nice idea. I do my best never to store ensitive information in Webmail, email or on my Laptop. There are HINTS to sensitive data on my phone and I normally switch Bluetooth off.
AlexK: That's really best. But you may want to catch the snoop even though you have nothing worth snooping.
Thanks for reading!
Hi
I can't enlarge the images!
Pam Roberson says:
8 months ago
This is HUGE! You've layed it all out in an easy to understand way, and this is invaluable information for any computer owner to have. Bravo, well done, and I think you have a winner regarding outside traffic on this one. Who doesn't want to know this?? Great job!
Bookmark! :)