Australian cybersecurity expert Alex Hope has revealed vital advice to prevent the loss of thousands of dollars at the hands of threat actors. The specialist believes this is a tip that all online platform users should follow when entering their data on any login page.
Hope mentions that using two-factor authentication users can rest a security that threat actors will have a hard time trying to access their online accounts, because by adding an email address, password, and authentication message, their data has an additional layer of security.
“Two-factor authentication provides an additional layer of security to protect against account hijacking and similar attacks,” the expert said. This mechanism also makes users more confident when using online banking websites, payment platforms, and other similar sites.
Alex Hope knows what he’s talking about. In March of this year the expert attracted media attention after he found the passport details of former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott thanks to an oversight of the politician, who shared a photo of his document on his Instagram account.
In later statements, Hope mentioned that he used the reservation number That Abbott accidentally exposed to get multiple personal details: “It took me a few seconds to get the former prime minister’s passport number, in addition to his phone number and several somewhat strange messages,” Hope admits. The worst part is that any user who has seen the photo posted on Instagram may have accessed this information as well.
Still, Hope is not considered a malicious hacker, so he notified Abbott’s office and Australian authorities of the information exposure. The politician thanked him for the warning and deleted the photo from his account: “I’ve realized that even famous people have to deal with these kinds of problems,” Abbott said.
It should be remembered that the personal information exposed may be used for all kinds of malicious purposes, including phishing campaigns or identity fraud.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
