My Thoughts on Technology and Jamaica: The Hacking of Dr Khia Duncan Facebook Page - How to Hack a @Facebook or @Twitter Account and Why TSV is important

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

The Hacking of Dr Khia Duncan Facebook Page - How to Hack a @Facebook or @Twitter Account and Why TSV is important

{12:28}  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
{12:29} Or else how can one enter into  a  strong  man’s  house,  and  spoil  his  goods,  except  he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
{12:30}  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me;  and  he  that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Excerpt from Matthew 12 vs 28 – 30 in the King James Version of the Bible


Hacking seems to be all up in the news of late.

The  Certifi-Gate vulnerability is the scariest, as it renders 90% of all Google Android smartphones remotely  hackable by Customer Care as explained in my blog article entitled “Check Point Software Technologies discover Certifi-gate – How to Control a Android Lollipop smartphone and Why fragmentation is at fault”.

Finally, however, some of that drama, has come to Jamaica in a most dramatic way. Well. Not exactly but real close though!

I'm of course referring to the  alledged hacking of Dr Khia Duncan Facebook account by Nationwide News journalist Abka Fitz-Henley on Thursday, August 13th 2015 as reported in the article “Police launch investigation into alleged hacking of DK Duncan daughter's FB account”, published Thursday, August 13, 2015, by Moya Hind, The Jamaica Observer.



Dr Khia Duncan claims someone hacked into her Facebook account and took a screenshot of her messaging another unnamed “PNP Comrade” type individual about PNP member Ian Hayles and his chances in winning the party’s Region 6 against her father D.K. Duncan.



During an interview with the Jamaica Observer, her sister Senator Imani Duncan-Price, claims that the conversations really took place and that the hacker apparently can post to the account, implying that they have the password and login.



Already the boss of Nationwide News, Cliff Hughes, is on the defensive, refuting the claim as reported in the article “Nationwide Rejects Claims It Hacked private Messages Of DK Duncan's Daughter”, published Thursday August 13, 2015 by Jovan Johnson, The Jamaica Gleaner.

His Twitter handle @cliffnationwide also confirms this as well:


Folks, this is looking like a legal battle between Dr Khia Duncan and Nationwide News journalist Abka Fitz-Henley with both already retaining the services of lawyers as reported in the article “Nationwide journalist hires lawyer to clear name of hacking allegations by MP's daughter”, published Friday, August 14, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.



Interestingly, in the middle of all of this, no police report has been officially filed with the Head of the Cyber-Crime Unit Inspector Warren Williams as noted in the article “Cybercrime boss not aware of report that Facebook account of MP's daughter being hacked”, published Tuesday, August 18, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.

To quote Head of the Cyber-Crime Unit Inspector Warren Williams, he's clueless as he’s receiving no such report: “We are not aware of any such breach or any such report. Normally once a report of a cybercrime breach comes in, the Cybercrime Unit will be brought into action. Now it is to find out if the report was made at the Counter Terrorism and Organized Crime Investigation Branch where the Cybercrime Unit sits or was it reported to a local police station. Once it has been reported there then it is the duty of the local police to get in touch with the specialist unit to assist in the investigation. I’m yet to hear of that”.

So while this is all shaking down, how exactly does one hack a Facebook account?

Anatomy of the Dr Khia Duncan Facebook Hack - You know it's a about that Keylogger with screenshot capability

Due to the Telecoms slant in this situation, this has caught my eye as it's a lot like the JIS (Jamaica Information Service) website hack back in June 2015 as reported in my blog article entitled “Anatomy of ISIS hack of the JIS Website - How the @JISNews Website was hacked and Why Hactivists couldn't access sensitive GOJ Databases”.

First off the bat, there is no way to hack a facebook account, even if you use password hashes as explained in Kemory Grubb’s Geezam blog article entitled “How Passwords are Cracked: Never Use one Password on All Accounts”.

The only way to gain access to a Facebook, Twitter or any Social Media account is to get the password and login; the person has to either willing give them to you or you steal them from the target, no diffident from stealing keys to access a house.

Most likely, it’s the latter and here’s what happened.

The hacker sent Dr Khia Duncan a URL (Universal Resource Locator) link either in her email or posted on of her social media accounts. She then clicked on it, opened it, allowing the hacker's URL website to lock on to her IP Address for her device, be it on a smartphone, Tablet or Laptop.

This gave the hacker the ability to scan her device and on locating the Network Interface Card (Laptop) or even the Baseband Processor (Smartphone or Tablet), they were able to determine what logical ports in her Internet access were open.

The hacker then proceeded to take advantage of Java scripting errors in JVM (Java Virtual Machine) if it was a smartphone or Tablet or Windows Computer and install a keylogger as explained in my blog article entitled “Professor Marco Gercke warns of Scammers using Keyloggers for Spear Phishing - How to use Keyloggers and how to Protect yourself from Scammer's American Hustle for Fast Cash”. 

That keylogger not only would track her typing in her device be it a smartphone, Tablet or Laptop but also be able to take screenshots of her online activity while typing. The hacker can then remotely retrieved the information as the installed keylogger would simply upload it to a Cloud Driver or Server for retrieval to be used for whatever purposes the hacker desires.

In other words, just like the hack of the JIS Websites in June 2015, the only difference being that the vectors for the hack was email with an attachment, basically a trojan horse.

Dr Khia Duncan has no case, really – With Friends like Doctors, who need enemies

Other possibilities exist, but they basically boil down to the same thing; a keylogger was involved to capture her Login and Password and take screenshots of her online activity.

In this alternate scenario,  Dr Khia Duncan used an Internet Cafe, the computer she was on may have had a keylogger installed for remote viewing, a popular technique used to steal logins and passwords as well as Credit Card information as noted in my Geezam blog article “How to use Scotia VISA Debit Card Online”. 

In fact, the hacker could even be one of her own medical staff who loaned her a Laptop to use the Internet and which had a keylogger installed. That keylogger then gave the hacker the ability to read all she'd typed, take screenshots as well as gain access all her accounts and not just facebook.

That “friend” could have also possibly borrowed her smartphone or tablet, allowing them to sideload or install a keylogger program onto her device, allowing them to watch her type and thus take screenshots of her online activity.

Worse, if she uses the same password for all her online accounts, be they email, Facebook, twitter, etc, they’ll soon be posting more than just pictures of her nude (which I’m dying to download….anybody out there, link me please!).

They'll be accessing her bank accounts and stealing her Credit and Debit Cards, if she’s does any shopping online.

It's for this reason that Fellow blogger Kemory Grubb pointed out that you cannot use the same password for all of your online presences. This as once they've got one, the hacker will try that one password and login combination in a bid to unlock all of your accounts as explained in the Geezam blog article entitled “How Passwords are Cracked: Never Use one Password on All Accounts”.

Like a thief using a set of copied keys to gain access to your house.

Abka Fitz-Henley vs Dr Khia Duncan – No Case submission as Dr Khia Duncan was careless

So the hacker isn't Nationwide News journalist Abka Fitz-Henley.

More likely it's one of her own Medical doctor friends, possibly someone who's jealous of Dr Khia Duncan and possibly with connections to her father's rival, PNP member Ian Hayles.

They either got a hold of her smartphone or tablet temporarily or even her Laptop of desktop computer and installed a keylogger, possibly even using the advice from my blog article entitled “Professor Marco Gercke warns of Scammers using Keyloggers for Spear Phishing - How to use Keyloggers and how to Protect yourself from Scammer's American Hustle for Fast Cash”. 

To add further injury to insult, the Facebook page for Dr Khia Josina Duncan has no blue check mark that indicates that this is a verified Facebook account belonging to her. Thus, the case will be wrapped up very quickly, as she cannot even prove that it's her account, even if she logged in on a computer in the courtroom in the presence of the RM (Resident Magistrate).



This as if a keylogger on her smartphone, laptop or Tablet can save her password as typed, then it means she was negligent in securing her login and password access to her “free” Social Media account, which is really her responsibility.

The fact that Nationwide News journalist Abka Fitz-Henley may have allegedly had a copy is purely coincidental.

If I was the hacker, the first thing I'd do was to meet with the journalist in a private FB Chatroom, WhatsApp, or even Whisper to keep my identity anonymous as explained in my blog article entitled “Whisper, the Anonymous Secret Sharing Social Mobile Network – Confession of Awkward Moment being revealed fuelled by the desire to Bare your Soul to Strangers” and give him a tip.

Failing that, I’d just start posting it all over the place; Facebook Groups, YouTube, Google Drive link and yes, Twitter, Jamaica’s weapon of choice. Because of these reasons, I suspect that case won't really get off the ground and if it does, it’ll be very short and won’t pass a hearing!

The lesson here, really, is to just not lend your smartphone, Tablet or Laptop to your friends and to use TSV (Two Step Verification) as described in my blog article entitled “How to enable Apple iCloud TSV using Apple ID – Apple iCloud Fappening created Hipster Trend of Flip Cellphones, Vinyl Records and Polaroids”.

After all, in the Game of Politics in Jamaica, the enemy of your enemy is still your enemy!

Here’s the link:

Cliff Hughes Twitter Account: @cliffnationwide



No comments: