How to Detect a Live Email Hack and Abort it on the Fly

Hey, this is Sanjay Seth, founder of P J Networks Pvt Ltd, and a veteran in the cybersecurity scene since the 2000s—got my start as a network admin in 93, literally when the networking industry was fleshing out how to do voice and data over PSTN. I even tussled with the notorious Slammer worm in the flesh (ah, the glory days). Fast-forward to today, after successfully migrating three top tier banks into zero-trust architectures and just coming off the DefCon floor — still high off the hardware hacking village — I’d like to impart some hard earned lessons on something we’re seeing everywhere, right now, for businesses: email hacks.

The thing is, email is the front door to your business. Once inside, it’s like tossing your car keys to a stranger who only recently learned about hot-wiring your ignition. So, I’m at my desk, writing this after my third coffee, to help you catch and abort an active email hack in real time.

Signs of an Email Breach

Knowing you’re hacked is like knowing that weird noise your car is making is going to be a problem—you have to listen up before it’s too late. Some email leaks don’t sound alarms. They’re often sneaky, subtle … until they’re catastrophic. Here’s what I look for (and what you should as well):

• Unusual Password Changes — Yourself or your staff have not demanded it but the password changes all of a sudden.
• Unusual Login Locations or IP Addresses — Your system identifies sign-ins from locations your employees have never visited — or sketchy use of virtual private networks.
• Emails Sending Themselves — Most common when your contacts suddenly receive a slew of bizarre or scammy emails from your domain.
• Emails That Are Missing or Deleted — Hackers get rid of sent folders or drafts to cover their tracks.
• Out-of-Office Replies Gone Rogue — Shit, your auto-replies go all rogue and start revealing stuff you don’t want shared.
• Notifications from Email Gateway or Security Systems — red flags take the form of any alerts or notifications your spam filter or email security appliance provides.
• Unexpected Tsunami of Bounce-Backs or Error Messages — May indicate hackers are trolling from your account.

This isn’t rocket science, look. And these are glaring signs of your email is compromised, but unfortunately, most businesses catch them far too late. Back, during one of my earlier days at PJ Networks, a banking client risked their whole email environment after a phishing breach — that could’ve been averted within a few minutes if they’d noticed the outbound spam spike earlier.

How to Secure a Breached Account

All right — you’ve found the breach. Now what? This is where most people fuck it up, shrieking and hastily switching every password, or worse — waiting until it’s too late.

Step 1: Isolate the Account

• Two-step an area of compromised access to the email account right away.
• Compel a password reset — but don’t settle for Password123 (if you please).
• Invalidate existing sessions or tokens. Hackers sometimes leave behind persistently actionable footholds, such as via OAuth or focus tokens.
• Check for any email forwarding rules — they’re a favorite hiding place for attackers to watch or steal data.

I’m not kidding here, I’ve seen teams miss this step and then curse the day they were born when the hacker literally just sat there in wait.

Step 2: Activate Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

MFA isn’t the Holy Grail, but it’s like putting a dead bolt on the door of your car. If you don’t already have it enabled, stop reading and do it right now. Going with MFA is a reliable enough defense that no amount of AI-powered magic can replace overnight—I’m not a fan of the hype around AI-powered security solutions.

Step 3: Inform Your Team

• Warn users who interact directly with that account.
• Inform your employees and customers of the compromised address and to not engage any suspicious emails.

Step 4: Check for Persistence

Drive-by’s don’t just hop in and out, they plant backdoors.

• Check for suspicious rules, auto-responders and delegate accounts in the mailbox you got access to.
• Monitor related cloud services for unauthorized access.
• Execute endpoint detection on devices where the user logs in — malware may be lying in wait.

Incident Response Steps

Hey, incident response is not just for the pros. At the very least, have a plan. I learned this in early 2000s, trying to patch things up without any protocols.

So here’s your crash course, based on some of the real-world stuff we do at PJ Networks:

1. Shut Down the Threat Right Away — Terminate compromised accounts, and block identified malicious IPs or devices.
2. Preserve Logs and Evidence — Stop deleting suspicious emails or logs. On October 3, Uber disclosed that its data had been compromised; collect them carefully to identify the extent of the breach and possibly assist investigations. (Yes, some people fail to do this step.)
3. Do a Forensic Analysis — Find out how they entered, using your SIEM or email security appliance reports—was it phishing? Credential stuffing? Malware? This informs your next moves.
4. Place a Communication Plan — Notify stakeholders promptly. It builds trust — especially with clients and banks. Heard a rumor in the security circles that reporting breaches damages reputation — I disagree. Not telling is worse.
5. Remediate and Harden Defenses — In addition to resetting passwords and enabling MFA, think about:
   • Upgrades of email gateway filtering
   • DMARC Implemented and DKIM / SPF Records Properly Configured
   • Zero-trust email access revisits (I’ve had to do this recently for three banks — we caught potential risks before they got nasty)
6. Post-Incident Review — Learn from the incident. What failed? What worked? Update your security policy — because you will be a target again.

Email Threat Response Services by PJ Networks

Okay, enough from me about what ought to happen. Around here at PJ Networks, we do this all day, every day.

Our team provides 24/7 monitoring and real-time response to detect email hacks in progress—because finding a breach after the fact is like closing the garage door after the car has been stolen.

• Real-Time Email Phishing Detection: Based on advanced threat intelligence and anomaly detection.
• For Threat: Contain the Incident Immediately: Auto-lockdown of affected Account(s) before it goes beyond control.
• Deep forensics and analysis: To learn about attacker methods and thwart their moves.
• Security Posture Improvements – Elastic zero-trust principles customized for your email topology.
• Training and Awareness: Because no technology, no matter how advanced, can replace human vigilance (user training is the often-forgotten end of cybersecurity).

If you’re wondering why some firms still don’t invest in proactive email security, my common reaction to this is: It’s like refusing to wear a seatbelt because airbags exist. Mediocre protection is not good enough.

Quick Take

• If you see any strange email activity — pounce.
• Temporarily take offline compromised accounts and change passwords — now.
• MFA is your friend and there’s no exceptions.
• Do not dispose of any logs or evidences!
• Have an incident response plan in place — it’s not a nice to have.
• Don’t believe the hype for every AI-powered magic bullet (I’m skeptical, and you should be too).
• And assert your safety against all types of Email hacking attack using PJ Networks.

Conclusion

Here’s the rub: Email breaches are very real, and they’re happening to businesses today — both large and small. Having logged thousands of network incidents since my days wrestling the Slammer worm, one thing has become clear: you suffer less damage the sooner you detect and respond.

And if you’re like, mine’s not that thin, or mine just needs users to be better educated, I hear you. Trust me: I’ve cracked accounts and facepalmed over trying to persuade people that password123 isn’t a password.

But here’s a bit of advice: Treat your email environment like the engine room it is. Continuous monitoring, layered defenses, and real-time incident response aren’t optional—they’re vital.

I’m always happy to discuss or help businesses dial in their email security posture so next time hackers come sniffing you don’t have to learn the hard way.

Keep vigilant, stay safe — and hey, don’t forget your coffee.

— Sanjay Seth
P J Networks Pvt Ltd