Hackers stole 1.4 million UAH with a smartphone: how did they succeed and whether they can be protected

< IMG SRC = "/Uploads/Blogs/C7/54/IB-FRUL9P457_499EA2A6.jpg" Alt = "Hackers stole 1.4 million UAH with a smartphone: how they succeeded and whether they could protect themselves"/~ 62 < p > British businessman James O'Sallelivan, CEO of Nuke from Orbit, stated that he was stolen a phone and then a large amount of money from a bank account using a treacherous scheme.

~ ~ ~ < p > his words & nbsp; transmits & nbsp; edition Bristol Live.

< h2 > theft on a million

< p > As the man assures, the phone disappeared when he and his friends celebrated in Dublin after the Ireland football match. The malefactors were probably initially cut over the shoulder as it enters the PIN code on the iPhone, and then seamlessly snatched the device, disconnected biometric protection and changed passwords.

~ ~ ~ > < p >They removed from bank accounts £ 25,000 (about UAH 1.4 million) while James realized that he had not lost his phone and stole it. It happened the next morning when the British called the bank. Only after that he reported to the police and tried to prevent further theft, changing passwords in all accounts.

< P > “Some cards issuers rejected some payments, but I could not quickly cancel cards without my phone due to the requirements of two -factor authentication, & mdash; mdash; shared the victim. & Amp; mdash; helpless, knowing that thieves can access my finances, steal my personality and even sell my personal information. “

< p >The banks helped James to return the stolen money, but it took a lot of time, documents and conversations with law enforcement officers from the fraud department. The man noted that many victims feel helpless and vulnerable in such situations.

< h2 > How to prevent theft

< P > James O'Sallevan soon wrote & nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; for Help Net Security, where he suggested how to prevent such theft. According to him, the PIN is the weakest link in digital protection. If the thief seizes an unlocked phone or sees how someone enters his code, he will be able to disable security features and get control. It can reset passwords, access to stored authentication codes and even block victims access to their accounts.

< p >This can be prevented by finding your smartphone & mdash quickly; There are special applications and built -in features for this purpose. However, they will not work if the attacker turns on the flight mode or hides the gadget in a signal bag.

< p > where it is best to use a long and complex PIN that criminals will not be able to remember the first time or just guess. It is not necessary to put predictable codes such as “1234” or birthdays. Instead, a six-digit or alphanumeric access code is recommended, as well as reducing the time of automatic lock to the maximum minimum. Biometric authentication such as a fingerprint or Face ID should be enabled but in combination with reliable access codes.

< P > It is worth making different PIN codes for lock screen and individual applications. Thieves will not be able to do great harm if only one of them is peeled.

< P > You still need to set up remote lock to quickly close access to accounts or delete data in case of theft. This will help the Services “Protection against the theft of” Apple or “Find My Device” from Google.

< P > The disclosure of confidential information can be minimized by avoiding the automatic saving of passwords in browsers and using a special passwords manager instead. Messages on the lock screen for bank applications and confidential messages should be disabled to prevent unauthorized access to reset codes. Unnecessary saved payment data should also be deleted from purchases to limit potential financial losses.