Have you ever wondered how much your online account is worth to a hacker?  If so, then this article is for you.  Though there’s dozens of web-based services that conveniently store your data, today’s focus is on one of the most popular and personal – Gmail.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago developed a tool, Cloudsweeper, for a  study which aims to make people more aware of the importance of keeping their online accounts secured by giving value to your Gmail account by analysing how you reuse passwords and if you store mails containing sensitive information such as passwords or password reset links for your other online accounts.

How it works

You need a Gmail account and allow Cloudsweeper to snoop into it.  Yes, it will check every nook and cranny of your Gmail account to check how secure you are, and how much your account is worth in case a hacker gets a hold of it, or you lost your laptop or mobile device and all your accounts are logged in.

It uses oAuth to access Gmail.  Don’t worry though, that’s the only account Cloudsweeper will access.  You have the option of just checking your status or help the researchers out by making your data available for study.

There are three tests you can run to check your Gmail account.  First, the Account Theft Audit will value your account by checking for Plain Text Passwords lying around in your account. Then there’s the Email Password Reset – the ones you get when you try to reset or change your password in an online account such as Facebook and Twitter, and Email Access+, which are online accounts that require additional information to prove your identity like when someone tries to log into your Facebook account — it’s not enough that they have access to your Gmail account, it needs additional proof.

The second link, Cleartext Password Audit, checks for passwords visible on your account.  If it finds passwords, you can either encrypt it so that the password won’t be comprehensible, redact it so that the password will be removed, or leave it as is and continue with the site’s survey.

And the third link is for Decrypt messages, which allows you to decrypt previously encrypted passwords.  This lets you know how easy it is for others to gain access to your other accounts even if there’s only an encrypted password shown on your account.

Is it worth it to check your worth?

It’s understandable if you do not want to check how much your Gmail is worth to a hacker since you’re giving someone permission to access your account.  It’s essentially inviting a stranger to see what’s inside your account.  But the study will surely pique your curiosity, as it did mine.  How much is my Gmail account worth?  Are there plain text passwords lying around that I don’t know about or might have forgotten?

For the purpose of research, and of course satisfying my own curiosity, I tried out Cloudsweeper and discovered that my Gmail account is only worth a measly $5.30.  Facebook is worth $5 to a hacker while Twitter is only $0.30.  The more online accounts tied in with your Gmail account, the more it gets valuable.  Apple is worth $8 while Amazon is worth $15.

Not sure if I’m just smart enough to delete all emails that contain important info or it’s because Gmail wasn’t my main email account until recently, and I haven’t tied my other accounts to it yet.  Either way, hackers won’t get much from me, so bug off.

photo credit: Jacob Whittaker via photopin cc
photo credit: ntr23 via photopin cc