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New research from Online Spy Shop can reveal that a significant number of Britons are hacking one another's emails and social media. The study also revealed:
2 in 3 of us are accidental hackers, having inadvertently logged into someone elses account
90% of accidental hackers failed to log out immediately
And half who stayed logged in performed at least one action in the account (see table below for what they did next)
22% of us admit deliberately trying to access partners social media at least once - and 1 in 3 of those guessed the right password
Facebook is the social media account most likely to be hacked by a partner
Investigating infidelity
Helping someone make a surprise marriage proposal
Tracking down a missing person
Being asked by a significant other to check messages
62% of Britons have accidentally hacked their partners social media account, either by logging in on a shared computer or finding the account already logged in. Of those who inadvertently logged in to their partners account, only 1 in 10 (12%) immediately realised their mistake and logged out.
Half (48%) of those who stayed logged in performed at least one action. The other half claimed to have logged out after realising they were in the wrong account.
A dishonest 22% admit deliberately trying to access their partners social media accounts and of those whove tried it, almost 1 in 3 guessed the right password.
Looked at inbox |
31% |
Checked notifications |
26% |
Opened a message |
24% |
Posted from the account |
15% |
Copied or forwarded a message |
4% |
Facebook is the social media platform most likely to be accidentally hacked. 76% of those who admitted accessing someone elses social media, either deliberately or by accident, used Facebook.
Eli Zheleva, 28 from Portsmouth used a browser vulnerability to hack her friends email, and reset her social media passwords to find her location after she went missing.
A friend of mine went missing. Her housemate called me to let me know she's stormed off. Later on, he found a rather negative note buried under other paperwork on her desk. It wasn't suicidal as such, but it had lines such as "I don't want to live amongst people who'd rather I was not alive.
We didn't know where she was and she had left her phone at the house, thus we couldn't contact her, all we knew is that she'd had some alcohol to drink and then drove off, which worried us even more.
She was supposed to take a flight to Bulgaria a week later and we were wondering if she'd rebooked her flight to leave earlier. We were desperate to discover her location.
"I used a trick Id read about on a popular tech website that enables you to decrypt passwords that have been saved in a browser. This enabled me to get into her email to get the new password to access her Facebook to see if shed contacted anyone. Once I was in her email, I was also able to see if shed had any confirmations from the airline about changing her flight. We were then able to tell the police that she was probably still in the country, as our biggest concern was that shed gone to Bulgaria.
Thankfully she did turn up safe and well. The moral of the story is never to use the same passwords for different accounts. It was worryingly easy to get into her email account."
Rebecca Williams, a chef from Yorkshire is a prolific honest hacker, having accessed her brothers Facebook account and the account of his ex girlfriend, without either knowing at the time.
I logged into my brothers Facebook account while he was on a plane to New York. He was planning a surprise proposal and one of his friends posted something on his wall that would have given the game away. I used his laptop and logged into his Facebook as his browser had saved his login details. Then I deleted the post. He was glad I did it when he found out.
I also used Facebook to discover that his ex had been unfaithful. Hed said he was suspicious, so I went and found out. I guessed her password first time as it was very predictable. Then read her messages and saw what shed been up to. He ended the relationship with her but didnt tell her how he knew.
Dale Davies, a digital marketing manager from Edinburgh, has an open social media relationship with his girlfriend.
I log in to my partners social media all the time. I post things on her behalf and check her messages, at her request. I dont feel weird and Ive never seen anything private or sensitive.