Gmail account “hacked”

gmail

Someone from China recently gained access to my gmail account. When I see the logs, it does show a Chinese IP address.

The account activity logs show

Browser     * India (KA) (14.96.25.209)     18:20 (0 minutes ago)
Browser     India (KA) (14.96.25.209)   18:07 (12 minutes ago)
Browser     India (KA) (14.96.25.209)   17:47 (33 minutes ago)
Browser     China (58.48.146.157)   17:44 (36 minutes ago)
Browser     India (KA) (14.96.25.209)   17:11 (1 hour ago)
Browser     India (KA) (14.96.25.209)   16:53 (1 hour ago)
Browser     India (TN) (14.96.116.139)  13:40 (4 hours ago)
Browser     India (TN) (14.96.116.139)  13:07 (5 hours ago)
Browser     India (TN) (14.96.116.139)  12:40 (5 hours ago)
Browser     India (TN) (14.96.116.139)  12:16 (6 hours ago) 

Now, while I did manage to change my password within a minute or so after the chinese guy got in, I have no idea how it happened. Also, gmail did not give me any notification of unusual account activity.

My laptop has a fresh,updated install of windows 7, with MSE installed, so its unlikely my password was taken from there, and I will be uninstalling a 3rd party app I was using on my cell to access Gmail.

What I want to ask is:

1) Are there any scans,etc. that I should run on my computer to secure it?

2) Why would gmail not show chinese activity on a gmail account never accessed outside India as suspicious activity?

Best Answer

If you used the same e-mail password as for another site, it is possible that that site was compromised, and they obtained your password that way. But it's still worth running a full virus scan on your computer anyway. Most virus scanners can detect keyloggers these days (the most likely form of attack).