Possible hacking

[ALF28]

On two occasions jan and Feb 2020 the password failed on my virgin secondary email login,had to reset using security question. It is the email address used for community. There was nothing wrong but not sure why password failed for no apparatus reason. It ia a virginmedia.com email. Is there a way to ensure the 10 digit password is strong, I normally use upper and lower case letters and some numbers, what are the restrictions if any, I assume symbols not allowed. When the failures occurred I tried several times retyping user name and paswords to check my typing, same result failed.

Can 10 letters be used or is it best to include some numbers which I do, but an example of a very strong 10 digit  password would be useful, I presume best to avoid words in case of dictionary attack or names, birthdays etc.

I suppose at the time the virgin log in may have been down temorarily but it said wrong details entered but the password reset worked and let me in.

.

[ALF28]

HISTORY OF DYNAMIC  IP ADDRESS CHANGES  HUB2 & HUB 3-     ALF28

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HUB2  IP ADDRESS    1        DATE UNSURE  APPROX 2014  INSTALLED NEW HUB2

HUB2   IP ADDRESS   2       APPROX 2017    IP ADDRESS CHANGED BY VIRGIN NO HARDWARE CHANGES EXTERNAL BOX WIRING CHANGE

HUB3   IP ADDRESS  3        2017 REPLACEMENT FOR  HUB2 FAULTY

HUB3   IP ADDRESS  4       2018   CHANGED AFTER SWOPPING TO MODEM MODE AND THE BACK TO NORMAL

HUB3  IP ADDESS      5      2019  CHANGED AFTER FAULTY HUB 3 REPLACED

HUB3 ADDRESS         6      OCT 2020    VIRGIN CHANGED IP ADDRESS NO HARDWARE CHANGE REASON UNKNOWN

I do not know reason why the latest change of ip address happened  area 30 October 2020

At times I used my own router but gave up on that too difficult to get working so will have had other ip addresses during this period with a tp-link in modem mode. Even a new tp link failed to connect so now just rely on hub3.

alf28

[newapollo · Accepted solution]

Hi again ALF,

VM probably changed your IP address when they where doing local maintenance work. That could have been due to local issues or segmentation. You might need to pair your tp link to your router again as it may still be looking for the old ip address?

[ALF28]

virgin media ip address change-

thanks for reply, google still showing my old ip address so not quick to update to new ip address.

Logging out web page accounts-

discussed in earlier posts-

Some website accounts , if you do not log out keep you logged in, can also happen if the browser is closed without login out, easily done if you have several browser tags open and you close all of them, applies to some web sites but others do time out such as banks.

Had one today Quora, when I brought up the web page was already logged in since June ( 4 months), even though password not stored. Originally I did not have a Quora account but one existed in my name??  and was sending me emails, so I changed the password back in June 2020. So then changed password again today and removed a facebook app set up in the account settings which was unusual, also my facebook password required to be reset today, also unusual. (both twitter and facebook can be used to log into accounts)

There is a danger of apps which can be used to log into accounts and even updated by hackers so I remove any such apps now. Does not apply to virgin as they do not have apps, also I do not save passwords  and click to close any other browsers open, virgin has  this setting in email too.

Not sure of the implications of an account left logged in but assume it is not good for security. Virgin does usually time out but on some occasions if browser is closed will still be open the next day.

alf28

[ALF28]

IS VIRGIN EMAIL SECURE-possible hacking

I noticed changes to my email folders today, they have changed from morning to night with on email dated 12/7/20 copied from one folder to another folder  and another  email received on the 1/3/21 deleted from a folder.

This has  happened a few times previously  but I  used web mail so should not happen as no email client was used in that period by me.

I can only conclude someone else has done the changes, so someone has a password to get access to my virgin email.

It is unusual as I often change my password almost monthly, so will change it again.

I do not think the email account is secure so do not use it now, mainly just spam emails anyway.

Someone is just letting me know they have access to my virgin email by making a few noticeable changes.

Not safe to use any more!

alf28

[ALF28]

HACKING

how long to crack your virgin password-test a similar one just to see how secure it is.

see

How Secure Is My Password?

Mine came up 3 days, not long. Only 10 digits is poor these days. (numbers, lowercase and upper case, has no special characters)

APPS-HACKING?

mobile apps via a simm- not sure how secure mobile apps are, my account has no simm data displayed so I assume there are no apps attached to my account?- it says no data available.

As I have no mobile account I can not check if there are any unknown apps attached which may give access to a hacker, unlike gmail and outlook, virgin do not provide any security data such as attached apps/passwords, last access etc  or recovery methods such as codes, 2FA, sms text , alternative emails etc.

I suggest the virgin account should have a section called security as other providers  do, so I do not consider it to be very secure with the only protection is a weak password and no 2FA. Good security is essential, my email does not appear secure as folders contents can be changed by others- happens to me.

alf28

[ALF28]

who are hackers

A hacker could be anyone, a neighbour, Relative, work related, someone you know, someone who has access to your account (staff), or anyone in any country in the world using hacked data such as Romania, Russia, China, UK, USA, Netherlands etc. There are always weak links as most companies who  use servers all over the world and the security is only as good as the person who controls the server. Many server have been hacked and data breached including the big names and corporate companies everyone uses daily.

I have found that even changing my password does not secure my email, and anyone with "access rights" can easily get into email which is not considered a secure method of communication so be careful if you put bank details in emails they may not be secure and can be read by others and becomes public.

Also many companies including virgin outsource services to countries outside of the UK such as call centres where even the language becomes difficult as they have poor English so help is difficult, more so now with covid19 and working at home good security must be difficult if not impossible.

I am surprised that virgin media  have no plans to introduce 2FA, 2 factor authentication to protect virgin accounts and email.

alf28

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

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@ALF28 wrote:

HACKING

how long to crack your virgin password-test a similar one just to see how secure it is.

see

How Secure Is My Password?

Mine came up 3 days, not long. Only 10 digits is poor these days. (numbers, lowercase and upper case, has no special characters)

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The problem with that logic is. It assumes you can check 100,000 passwords a second. This assumes local attacks with no account lockouts in place.

If you can only check 10 password attempts before locking the account out you can't brute force the passwords online.

But never use VM or any ISP email. They are free services because a long time ago it was expected that ISP gave emails so they still do at the lowest cost.

Go with a free or paid services whos business is email and not an ISP

[ALF28]

EMAIL CLIENTS

Not sure if email clients such as thunderbird are easier to hack and if the virgin protection still works if logging in via an email client.

It is also possible email clients can be hacked if the password is remembered in the tick box, it may be stored on the email client server?

Someone has moved files in my folders, not me, and this does happen regularly which is concerning my email account is not private and secure, or perhaps the emails move by themselves, the other possibility is that if emails are also copied on an email client server (thunderbird in my case) then security is reduced also with possible hacker access to the email client. Many people use email clients for convenience, such as Bluemail, Microsoft mail, thunderbird, etc.

But never use VM or any ISP email. They are free services because a long time ago it was expected that ISP gave emails so they still do at the lowest cost.

That is the best bit of advice possible, thanks for that, hope others take note.

I do now use alternatives such as gmail etc.

Hacking of virgin email is common looking at other posts, so hackers must have a way to get the virgin password somehow?

If brute force attacks are locked out after 10 tries, how come customers still do get hacked, must be the data breach.

alf28

[jem101 · Accepted solution]

By far the most common way that people’s accounts are ‘hacked’ is due to the fact that even now, despite all good advice, many still insist on using the same password / email address combination across multiple sites. If only one of them gets breached then that password and address is tried against all sorts of sites (it’s often referred to as credential stuffing), absolutely no hacking skills required whatsoever.

And, of course the other common method is via a bogus website which looks exactly like the legitimate one, get a user to visit the bogus site, enter their credentials and that’s it.

[coenoby · Accepted solution]

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@ALF28 wrote:

If brute force attacks are locked out after 10 tries, how come customers still do get hacked, must be the data breach

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Also, don't forget about the effects of malware on your devices which can be installed in a variety of different ways and is good at hiding itself.

Keyloggers can steal your passwords by logging your keystrokes and autofill capture software can steal passwords stored in your browser.

Plus of course, there are the remote access scammers who convince their victims to allow them to access their computer using software such as Teamviewer.

Coenoby