Robert Siciliano identity theft expert

One hacked email address led to the defacement of Comcasts homepage. When the hackers called Comcasts technical contact to let him know all 200 Comcast domain names and Comcast homepage were vulnerable, he hung up on them.

It has not been disclosed how the email was compromised, but there are many ways it could be. Wired/CNN reports as described in the indictment, the hackers got control of the domain with two phone calls, and an e-mail was sent to the company’s domain registrar, Network Solutions, from a hacked Comcast e-mail account.

That gave them entry to the Network Solutions control panel for Comcast’s 200 domains, according to the indictment.

The hackers ages 19 and 20 at the time known as Defiant and EBK from a group calling themselves Kryogeniks scrawled “KRYOGENIKS EBK and DEFIANT RoXed COMCAST sHouTz To VIRUS Warlock elul21 coll1er seven.” Across Comcasts homepage after they were rebuffed by Comcasts tech admin. Where they screwed up during their stunt was when they changed the contact information for the Comcast.net domain to Defiant’s e-mail address. Brilliant hackers yet not so smart.

One way of compromising email accounts is via simply going to the “forgot password” section of your email provider’s website and respond to a preselected personal question that you answered when signing up for the account. With a little research, the hacker has a good shot at finding the correct answer. Some of the current questions could be answered using information found on a user’s social networking profile, or through a website like Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com

I suggest that you check out the “forgot password” section on your own web-based email account, to see your current personal question. If it’s easy to answer, or would only require a little research to solve, update the question with one that you create based on opinion, as opposed to fact.

You should also beef up your password. Combine uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers. Don’t use consecutive numbers, and never use names of pets, family members, or close friends.

1. Get a credit freeze. Go online now and search “credit freeze” or “security freeze” and go to consumersunion.org and follow the steps for the state you live in. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes the SSN useless to the thief.

2. Invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Protection. While not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, you can effectively manage your personal identifying information by knowing what’s buzzing out there in regards to YOU.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses hacked email on FOX & Friends.