Hacking your details is worryingly easy

An investigation by BBC's Panorama programme has revealed that stealing your details is child's play. In a number of experiments they showed how simple it was to hack into websites and steal customer information. They also demonstrated how easy it was to install malware on commuters to harvest information. Finally they revealed how hackers can then sell your details on to other criminals.

Hacking

The programme set up an experiment by Edinburgh Napier School of Computing. They created a fake company website with credit card details and passwords, and asked a group of hackers to break into the site and steal customer data.

Professor Bill Buchanan estimated that the hack would take between 2 and 4 hours, but the hackers found the first vulnerability in a matter of seconds, by guessing the password of the system administrator. From there it took a matter of minutes to get hold of the customer credit card details, and a few more minutes to shut the site down.

The hackers weren't surprised how easy they had found the process, and said that in the real world, credit card details on a number of sites would be just as vulnerable. Buchanan said small websites were particularly vulnerable.
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Malware

James Lyon, an internet security expert, told the programme that cybercrime has become a business. A number of gangs produce malware packages, and sell them on. He says he sees around 30,000 new infected websites a day. He says: "You land on a legitimate website that's been attacked. That will exploit your computer and will silently, in the background, install a piece of code that lets the attackers monitor everything you type." This enables them to mine your accounts for information.

This information isn't always your bank details, because even email accounts can be used. The programme spoke to one woman who was in the middle of a house purchase, and received an email that seemed to come from her solicitor, giving her the details of an account to send her savings into. She transferred the money, and her life savings were gone forever.

Selling data

Alternatively criminals can sell stolen data on the dark web, and one expert showed the programme just how easy it was to access other people's credit card details. He bought the credit card details of 13 people for the show. Two of them had already been victims of fraud.

The only good news is that the experts in the programme said that you can take steps to protect yourself. They recommended using anti-virus software, keeping your computer updated with the latest software, and using a different password for each of the sites you visit. Lyon added: "Last but not least, be a bit of a cynic, and be careful what you click on."