Get an account with TeamViewer, and you will have a software package that enables remote control, online meetings, desktop sharing and other functions between computers.
But recently, customers of TeamViewer have reported remote takedowns of their computers that resulted in different forms of monetary theft, such as bank accounts being cleaned out.
The cyber thieves controlled the victims’ computers via their TeamViewer accounts. Customers would witness their mouse arrow suddenly moving beyond their control.
The infiltration, though, did not occur on TeamViewer’s end, insists the company. Instead, the software company called users “careless” because they reused their TeamViewer passwords on other sites like LinkedIn, reports an article at theregister.co.uk. The company has since apologized. Frankly, I agree with TeamViewer. Careless password reuse is one of the main reasons why so much fraud is occurring.
The stream of support tickets from customers prompted TeamViewer to implement two new security checks which will warn customers via e-mail of suspicious login attempts to their TeamViewer account and ask their permission to allow this or not.
Another safeguard newly in place will be that of the company checking the GPS of login attempts, plus requiring a password reset when anybody tries to log in from a new location.
Some customers have been critical that the release of these new security features took too long, since the reports of the hacking began a few weeks prior to the finalization of these new features.
As mentioned, the origin of these hacks is apparently the reuse of TeamViewer passwords on other sites that were then hacked. TeamViewer managed to get ahold of the leaked passwords, and also leaked e-mail addresses, that were all the cyber crooks needed to remotely hijack the computers.
However, some victims reported that they never reused their password and even had two-factor authentication. Further, some victims are placing blame on the company for the breaches.
The company is taking the breach seriously and wants its affected customers to upload their log files. TeamViewer especially wants to hear from customers with two-factor authentication who were compromised.
Robert Siciliano CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.