Re:Ask HN: Good email host?
by mappu on Saturday October 29, 2016 @10:22PM
(#12827778)
Be careful with using your own domain, there have recently been a number of high-profile attacks based on hijacking the DNS.
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Re:Ask HN: Good email host?
by frequentlywrong on Sunday October 30, 2016 @12:14AM
(#12828128)
I haven't heard about those. Do you have a link to a web page that explains more?
The reason I'd prefer my own domain is quite simply that I'd like to avoid being locked into a specific email company.
I've read a number of stories on the topic - the basic technique is to identify the domain registrar or DNS provider and attempt to manually reset the password by spear-phishing with the customer service rep. Once you're in, MX can be redirected to a host of the attacker's choice, and then you can initiate password resets on any number of third-party services.
One example of a DNS-based MX hijack is http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/attackers-take-contr... although i'm at a loss to come up with some more specific (and exciting!) examples that i can clearly remember.
It's a vulnerability that simply doesn't exist with gmail/hotmail/outlook.com addresses. Do you know whether your domain registrar and DNS providers' CSRs mandate 2FA or allow multiple attempts at guessing security questions?
EDIT: https://medium.com/@N/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-... used the same attack.