Gmail Hackage

Paperlantern

So i feel like a schmuck. I just pass the Sec+ exam recently, then my gmail gets hacked somehow. Ironically enough gmail just MADE me change my password to something stronger about 5 or 6 months ago. Someone jacked it and tried to send out some blastogram to my entire contact list consisting of maybe a dozen and a half people. Gmail caught the activity and didn't deliver any of the messages, which i was both impressed with and grateful for. But I'm always very careful with where I use my main e mail address information and only use it for things I trust. The most recent thing I used it for was to register my B&N Nook I received for Christmas. Yes I opened it a little early, but I already knew what it was, and I registered it on Monday and my account was hacked yesterday. I have since changed my password on gmail of course. And even a few other sites just in case (yeah I'm paranoid, maybe thats why i ultimately want a CISSP)

I didn't think anything of it at first when my iPhone stopped being able to get my gmail because my wife said hers stopped working as well. But when hers started working again this morning, and mine was still not working, I got on a computer and tried to sign in. Thats when i was met with the suspicious activity message and had to go through a verification process to get back into it.

I am more than a little pissed at this based on how careful I am with that account's usage and how guarded I am with my password. Is this normal? People's gmail just getting brute forced?

I guess I'm hoping this is more of a random occurrence, than something i may have slipped on to have it happen. Any thoughts? Anyone had this happen?

tbgree00

This happened to me last month. I had a message on my droid saying it couldn't authenticate on one of my accounts. I signed in on that account and got the suspicious activity warning and changed the password. That was my account for church and job search stuff so it's not registered anywhere other than monster and dice. I had the same pill spam blast and everything. At the bottom of the screen it had the IP address of the hack under "recent locations". It was all KY, KY, KY, Brazil, KY, KY. Obviously one of those things was not like the other.

I'm not sure if it was brute force, a virus on my phone, or what. The password was unique, moderately strong, and never used on any of my other accounts anywhere. I reimaged my phone with a different ROM, changed the password, and things seem fine now.