Re: Phew - email problem sorted.

"aa" <usenet.aa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:pYDCg.1499$r61.142@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In news:Xns981B62DFEB305314159265358@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
Ali wrote:
On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:34:54 GMT, Rabbit commented

Scary, and I'm sorry it happened to you *but* presuming it
happened as pmj said (and believe it or not it was my thought
too but I thought that the odds of a bad guy/gal being the next
to use the pooter must be quite long) by using a public pooter
( Internet cafe, library etc) your experience has shown everybody
on here ( and perhaps anybody Googling) to be extra vigilant when
using public pooters, so something good has come out of it as a
warning to others about using public pooters and the advantage
of several dedicated addies.

I don't want to raise your paranoia, but anyone with administrative
access to a public computer (and that includes anyone who has cracked
it) can install a program to collect all the keystokes (or perhaps
just those that look like username/password pairs to cut down on
volume) and send them to anywhere in the world.

I've often wondered about websites like 'Web2Mail' where you can
access POP3 accounts from anywhere in the world. You enter your
username and password details on their website each time you need
to access your account. What's to stop Web2Mail making unauthorised
use of this data?

Well, yes, actually that *is* a very valid concern!!!

But...

The Mail2Web.com Site is a well-established & reputable Site - it has
been Running for 7 or 8 Years (at least) & if there were genuine
problems, then I think word would have got around.

They specifically state in the Privacy Policy that the UserName &
PassWords that are Entered *aren't* kept or used for anything else.

http://services.mail2web.com/About/Policy/PrivacyPolicy.asp

& they also offer a "Logout" Option on the Page & they also suggest
that you clear the Temporary Internet Files Cache in the Web Browser
that you use to Access it, once you have finished using it. (so as
to stop other people from being able to see the contents of Mails
you have Read)

Other Sites which offer similar facilities need to be treated with
sensible caution, since it's actaually very easy to knock up a similar
"POP3/IMAP4" Web-based Mail Reader Application, using PHP or Perl
& bung it on a Website for public use - that *could* be used to
Harvest UserNames & passWords.

... Must admit, whenever I've needed to use them or use any Internet
Cafe, I change my password afterwards as soon as I get access to
a 'safe' PC.

That seems like good practice.

I think a lot of people *don't* ever bother changing PassWords on
their Mail (& other) Accounts

--
pmj


.

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