Source
r/PS3•
arkanus

Just came home and my e-mail was hacked to send spam. Has this happened to anyone else?

I have had my e-mail address for years. I have never had anything hacked like this before. I come home and my provider tells me that there was suspicious activity on my account and it turns out that I was sending out some link. I don't know what it is too, because I am afraid to even click on it.

I am also a PS3 owner. I find the timing of this hack to be very suspicious. Is this just a coincidence or is there widespread hacking after the latest security issue?

Posted Jun 13, 2011, 10:00 PM UTC

128
dr_shocktopus•

You didn't change your password after the hack?

5
arkanusOP•

No. I put on verification for a while, but it was really irritating getting so many texts. I also was never really sure if my e-mail was directly linked to the PS3 or not, nor was I sure which password was used on the PS3.

0
Nsfw-Dragoon•

So you're blaming psn for your hacked email when you got lazy and took off the verification? And you don't even remember if you used the correct password?

1
arkanusOP•

No. I never used verification before. I only put it on, briefly, after the PS3 hack. Taking off verification by itself would not cause my account to be breached.

I have never had an e-mail account hacked. I have had my g-mail account for years with no problem. My computer tests clean for viruses and I haven't changed my security habits at all. It sounds like this might have been a Gmail issue. It still could also be a PS3 issue. If my password got into bad hands because of a company's security breach, then yes I do blame that company. It doesn't matter if I don't have other layers of security, because the direct cause of my account getting hacked was their breach.

Now, I like Sony and Google. Even if one of them slipped up I am not going to hate them for it. That doesn't change the fact that they caused the problem.

And you don't even remember if you used the correct password?

I don't remember if my PS3 password was the same thing as my gmail one. I definitely was hacked because I had a login from Chile.

1
flashmedallionflashmedallion•

Exact same situation... had account for years, very little suspicious activity or trouble because I'm careful like that. It's the account I use for my PSN.

About 2 weeks ago I had a whole bunch of 'Delivery Failure Notification' emails in my inbox for outgoing spam to email addresses of friends from years ago which were still in my address book. Checked my outbox and nearly everyone on my list had been spammed from my address. Then I changed passwords and all that jazz.

I assumed it was related to the PSN hack and have been looking out for people who've experienced something similar, but your post is the first thing I've seen in a couple of weeks.

2
[deleted]•

Who do you use for email?

2
arkanusOP•

Gmail. It appears as though Google caught it pretty quickly and locked down my account. I had to use a text message to reopen it. I am actually pretty impressed by Gmail's response.

5
DiggFtw•

exactly the same , gmail caught it pretty quick had to re-activate it via my mobile. Did you check to see the IP of who accessed your account?

1
arkanusOP•

Yeah. I was access from Chile. You were Gmail too? It sounds like this may be a Gmail breach rather than a PS breach.

1
DiggFtw•

I trust gmails security more than sonys , perhaps they only targeting gmail.

1
thegreaterikku•

Then it's likely some asian hacker. Check the location of your "last" logins.

Mine was hacked 6 or 7 months ago. I am pretty sure the region will be China or something like that. They are trying to hack google since last year.

1
arkanusOP•

Good idea. The last Login was from Chile. Sadly, I have not had the chance to visit Chile yet.

1
WiretapStudiosdeluxeli•

I and 3 other people I know had the same thing, also, it happened on 4 of my Gmail accounts. It was a Gmail breach, that they immediately shut down when they found the exploit. I believe it was Russian hackers if the article I read was correct.

1
jkdeadite•

There are a lot of ways to lose your password (It's not "hacked" by the way...). It can only be related to PSN if you didn't change your password.

2
TheVog•

This is all that needs to be said. One of the following happened:

  • Your password was easy to guess
  • Your password was was brute-forced (continuous computerized guessing)
  • There was a keylogged on a system you used to access this account
  • You use this same password for another account, and the two were linked somehow (publishing the e-mail address in a forum post where you use the same password, for example)

Don't re-use passwords and use strong ones: 10-12+ characters, uppercase/lowercase/numbers/characters - use all 4.

This likely has nothing to do with the PSN hack.

2
FapFappington•

How do you know? You're like one of those fucking reps that doesn't listen after you said you tried trouble shooting !

He seems competent enough to know how not to get phished. I'm sure the average person here knows about emails, this is not a grandad. Also this is most likly to do with psn.

They admitted they had our information stolen an you say it'd probably not linked. Stay strong fanboy.

1
TheVog•

Speaking of not listening, I never mentioned phishing: phishing implies getting misled into giving your information away, and I implied. As for the OP's competency, the question being asked tells us that he or she does not have an advanced level of knowledge in this field - which is fine, that's what asking is for.

As for my advice, it's backed by 15 years of experience and knowing that upwards of 95% of users have weak passwords, and that brute-force password guessing is a joke with how fast CPU and GPU technology is scaling. Complement that with just how widespread malware is nowadays, and you have your likeliest answer.

How about trying to come up with answers or suggestions for the OP rather than cluelessly attacking others?

1
FapFappington•

For somebody to attack him he must be a huge target. Mass server requests for a list of emails from a bot would get licked out. I'm not here to argue that though. I AM saying to rule out the recent attack on psn is foolish.

0
arkanusOP•

As for my advice, it's backed by 15 years of experience and knowing that upwards of 95% of users have weak passwords, and that brute-force password guessing is a joke with how fast CPU and GPU technology is scaling.

Doesn't every major web based e-mail provider have procedures to prevent brute forcing? I am sure that a high end computer could brute force through my password, but I am equally confident that Gmail doesn't make an attack like that trivial.

0
arkanusOP•

My e-mail accounts have been fine for years without issue. Gmail has security against brute force and I definitely was not phised. Theoretically I could have been keylogged, but I really doubt it. MSE says that there is no problem at all.

One of two things happened. I either used the same password for both accounts, as I have discussed earlier, or something happened to Gmail.

I typically don't have my e-mail as the same address for websites that I sign up for. I may have overlooked this when creating my PS3 account, mainly because Sony is far from some fly by night website forum. I also am not completely sure what details Sony has, because my PS3 just automatically logs me in. I haven't entered my player credentials in a long, long time.

Btw my password had both letters and numbers in it. It wasn't exactly as strong as 2 lower case, 2 upper case, 2 special and 2 numbers, but it wasn't "sex" either.

0
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
DiggFtw•

same thing happened to me not long ago I suspect it's related to the PSN breach. My account was setup ( from a Cyprus ip ) to send fake anti virus scans unlikely my password was stolen via trojan or keylogger as i use linux. Probably because I was lazy and my psn account password was the same as my email providers, stupid on my part but to be fair i did not expect this shit from sony.

1
jordanlund•

It's been going around work, seems to start with one of those bogus "You will receive a package in 3 days, click here for detals" and what you're clickng is either an infected PDF or .exe or some such.

1
TheBrokenMan•

Did you guys keep your PSN and Email password the same i.e

PSN [email protected] Pass: 1234

ACTUAL GMAIL [email protected] Pass: 1234

My main gmail linked to my steam, PSN, Blizzard etc is still working fine because my PSN password is something related to old fashioned 30's movies while my main Gmail password is the lyrics to one of my favorite operas =)

1
arkanusOP•

Possibly. As I have said before, my system logs me in automatically. I have no idea which e-mail I used a few years ago to set my account up.

1
[deleted]•

2 - factor + remember this computer for 30 days. Great for keeping your account safe with minimal hassle. Unless you wander around logging into your GMail from random computers all day.

1
WiretapStudiosdeluxeli•

This was not due to the PS3 breach. OP is using Gmail. I and 3 other people I know had the same thing, also, it happened on 4 of my Gmail accounts. It was a Gmail breach, that they immediately shut down when they found the exploit. I believe it was Russian hackers if the article I read was correct. I am a PS3 network member, but my account was not hacked in this last fiasco.

1
pwnstar•

easy solution.... dont use the same passwords... for anything....

1
arkanusOP•

That still doesn't change the fact that they may have gotten my password from the PS3 hack.

1