funsec mailing list archives
Re: Cyber Thieves Steal Entire E-Mail Accounts
From: Nick FitzGerald <nick () virus-l demon co uk>
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:04:53 +1300
Fergie wrote:
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter Mindy Basara said criminals are stealing e-mail accounts and...
<<snip>>
Lisl Moyer spent hours trying to undo a mistake she said she wouldn't make again. She accessed her Hotmail account on a public computer and believes she forgot to log out. The next time she tried to log onto Hotmail, she couldn't because her password had been changed.
Interesting how this story _entirely_ missed the possibility that she did, in fact, log out of Hotmail and was simply the victim of a keylogger. What depth of reporting...
"They had changed my secret question," Moyer said. "How they changed my secret question, I have no idea."
And again, understanding this is far from rocket science. OK, so the poor victim doesn't understand that "never tell anyone your password" means just that, at least partly because your username is quasi-public (being in your Email address) and once someone also knows your password to the system they effectively _are_ you. Clearly with the victim not understanding this, I'd have thought it a rather important fact to point out in the story so it actually had some useful content beyond its current largely scare value. Mindy Basara does have good teeth and high cheek bones though: http://www.thewbalchannel.com/2005/0906/4938541_320X240.jpg so I guess her journalistic credentials are beyond reproach... Regards, Nick FitzGerald _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
Current thread:
- Cyber Thieves Steal Entire E-Mail Accounts Fergie (Nov 14)
- Re: Cyber Thieves Steal Entire E-Mail Accounts Nick FitzGerald (Nov 14)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Cyber Thieves Steal Entire E-Mail Accounts Fergie (Nov 14)