A new study looks at what people want to hack the most. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp accounts come by far in the lead
A new study by NordVPN reveals that 7 out of 10 searches related to hacking relate to someone's Meta accounts (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp).
The researchers looked at Google searches that included the word “hack” and its translations in different languages.
In total, they analyzed nearly 2M (1,983,741) of searches from 50 countries. 70% of them (1,387,020) included Meta's social media platforms.
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| How to hack Facebook |
Facebook IDs can open a lot of doors…
“ As innocuous as this research may seem, it can end up infringing on someone's privacy.
A person can take over their ex-partner's social media, or a business executive can disrupt their competitor's business, not to mention that many hackers remember starting their "career" from these Google searches " , says Adrianus Warmenhoven, cybersecurity expert at NordVPN.
“ Today, hacking someone's social media can do a lot of harm. For example, Facebook is the second most popular social identifier for accessing third-party sites.
Once obtained, Facebook accounts can open the doors to online shopping sites that hold bank card data, and even more. "
About 15% of all social media users have encountered unauthorized activity on their accounts. This lines up with the most recent survey conducted by NordVPN, which showed that 9 out of 10 people know at least one person whose social networks have been hacked .
Top 10 countries with the most searches:
| India | 238,810 |
| Mexico | 198.921 |
| Brazil | 116,650 |
| Argentina | 88,810 |
| Philippines | 78,520 |
| UNITED STATES | 75,850 |
| Nigeria | 68,760 |
| Indonesia | 62,720 |
| South Africa | 58,200 |
| France | 48,381 |
Is it possible to learn how to hack Facebook on Google?
Researchers looked at top search results to see if there is any really useful information for budding hackers on Google.
“ How to hack Facebook” is a research done by a newbie who has no idea where to start. But other popular related searches include the names of specific tools that people use for this purpose, which shows that they do several searches to refine their knowledge before launching their attack ,” says Adrianus Warmenhoven.
The scary thing is that most of the top search results are popular blogs and forums where users share advice on how to try to break into other people's social networks.
Internet users may also find beginner tools or services that rarely work but can cause real harm to their users. They can collect user data and often include spyware or malware.
Interestingly, researchers have found that Amazon also offers self-published ebooks that claim to explain how to hack the most popular Meta platforms.
Fortunately, some of these results are preventative in nature. Instead of providing concrete instructions, they give readers advice on how to be safe online. However, this is not the case for all…
The most popular hacking methods and ways to avoid them
“ These amateur hackers who try to research hacking methods are not the most dangerous. But we have to learn how to protect ourselves from real hackers, because cybercrime is increasing by 30% every year ,” says Adrianus Warmenhoven.
It also lists the most common hacking methods, along with recommendations for staying protected.
Brute force attacks.
Brute force attack is the simplest hacking method: hackers guess until they get the numbers right. Brute force attacks are often automated, with special algorithms trying thousands of password variations every second.
To complicate brute force attacks, use strong and unique passwords. Adding uppercase letters, symbols to an all-lowercase password can increase brute-force attack time from seconds to hundreds of thousands of years.
1: Exploit data leaks .
After every major data breach, millions of user IDs end up being sold on the dark web.
Such breaches have affected Facebook and more broadly Meta . The "black hat hackers" who hide in these underground forums try to take control of the accounts concerned.
To prevent your data from being exploited, use multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication protects you even when criminals hack your password; so be sure to implement it as soon as possible.
2: Man-in-the-middle attacks.
In man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, attackers place themselves between two parties that exchange data.
This allows them to spy on private conversations, steal credentials, or even use connection requests authorized by multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Adrianus recommends using a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) routes all of your online traffic through a secure encrypted tunnel, protecting you from network spies and man-in-the-middle attacks.
Even if hackers manage to intercept your encrypted data, they can't see what's inside.
Methodology :
NordVPN researchers used Google's search term analysis tools to find terms with the keyword “hack”. In addition to global trends, search volumes were also checked by country. In sum, almost 2M (1,983,741) searches were analyzed in 50 countries, both in English and in the local language.
Reference period: September 2021 – August 2022.
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