Hacked Yahoo Accounts

May 29, 2012, 05:15:06 pm

FWIW I solved my problems with having my Yahoo account hacked. I realize it won't work for everyone and every case but I have not had a problem since I made this following changes.
The usual hacking involves hijacking your address book and sending everyone in it some kind of spam, phishing message or other undesireable action. If the Yahoo address book is empty, they can't do that. Simple as that.
After the last time I was hacked - I think over a year ago now - I deleted all the addresses Yahoo had automatically added to the address book over the years and set it up to NOT save e-mail addresses that I sent or replied to. I do not put any addresses in there myself either. There are now no addresses at any time associated with my Yahoo account on Yahoo. All my addresses are kept in an unrelated location.
One way to have the addresses handy is to highlight and copy them from some other source, even a simple ASCII or word processing file will work. Most e-mail programs allow exporting your adresses to various types of files. Just update it once in a while and everyone you want should be easy enough find.
I realize this isn't the most elegant solution but when there is nothing to steal they can't embarass me by sending everyone in my address book links to unwanted websites or any other nastiness. At least untli some hacker figures out some new form of torment for us. But I suspect with so many unprotected targets they'll leave me alone - I hope.
In any case it's working for me, so far and it beats having to chanage my email address and notify everyone. The inconvenience of having to cut and paste e-mail adresses is, so far, less work than that.

Bob Handren

'05 Inspire 51178

Re: Hacked Yahoo Accounts

Reply #1 – May 29, 2012, 05:47:15 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 79689

Hi Bob,

Great idea! I will pile on.

I've been hacked once. My strategy is identical to yours Bob but for passwords. I created 4 different eight character sequences using all combinations of allowable types of characters. I placed these master sets in a safe separate place and then used those sets, used differently each time to build the longest passwords each site will allow - some do go as much as 32 characters.
So my process is the same as yours Bob. For 'secure site' X I pull up the monster password, copy/paste, and I'm off. I keep my master password sets in different places . . . can't lose that baby as I don't have any memorized.

So far so good.

if there is a weakness to this, someone please tell me.

Lee

Re: Hacked Yahoo Accounts

Reply #2 – May 30, 2012, 12:02:45 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 79716

Lee - We'll all trying to be more secure about the internet. It's a constant fight between users, ISPs and cyber criminals and it's anyone's guess who's on top at any moment. Norton publishes a cyber crime index which is worth a look: http://us.norton.com/?cci=on&s_tnt=22618:0:0 One ponders what the costs are to paying customers for maintaining security?? Or the illusion of it. In a system that runs by a "server/client" model, security at our PCs is only a small part of the holes that exist. Windows evolved from DOS (a single user system) and still to this day includes miles of legacy code. From the beginning, it's been weak on security. Although "PC" stand for personal computer our systems get invaded constantly making them a lot less personal than they once were. UNIX and Linux are much more secure given they were designed with security in mind right from the beginning. They, of course, are outside the Microsoft empire.
As we use the internet we depend on ISPs to do their homework with security. We also depend on software providers to develop quality products that take into account today's security issues. Those working in the industry need to be well trained and diligent about security matters. Not all companies (to include their employees) and software products meet this requirement in the same way. Some, like Yahoo, fall short of the mark in my opinion. Anti-malware and anti-spam software that should be running on the servers is expensive. It also becomes outdated quickly and upgrades cost money. A disgruntled employee can easily leave with a list of passwords and accounts. Your longest and most cryptic passwords can't thwart this type of criminal.
For email, there is another option. Use a client based email program which removes everything from the server to include your address book. Evolution running under Linux is very secure, for example. I run Eudora under Windows XP and pay $75/year for a Norton anti-virus subscription. That is another option which is reasonably secure. As for web based email services, I think gmail is a better option. Yahoo seems to be having issues with security and countless users of its mail service are getting hacked. Too many, in my opinion, for it to be trusted. In time I think the Smart Phones will replace conventional PCs hopefully with better security. That said, if your data is sitting on an SQL database somewhere it's vulnerable. Making it all 100% secure is like getting the last germ out of the hospital.
The sad reality is - If you use a computer for moving data you are at risk to some extent. Over the years I don't think internet security is getting better it's getting worse. Identity theft is now the latest concern. So much so that companies like Life Lock make an entire business out of offering you protection. And it's only a matter of time before they get hacked or a disgruntled employee leaves with a disk in their pocket. Smart phones will be interesting to watch as they continue to replacing PCs. Most of them use Linux which is a step in the right direction.
The message is watch your digital backs out there. And know this - If you have something of value, someone is going to try to steal it. My thoughts as an analog man trying to survive in a digital world.

At 02:47 PM 5/29/2012, you wrote:

Country Coach Owners Forum Country Coach Motorcoach Forum