Privacy, Security & Virus Information

Learn not to trust an e-mail from your great Auntie

One of the problems of getting something for nothing is that you tend to treat it lightly. A classic example are these free e-mail accounts that every one of the search engine operators will let you have for free, which they use as a public relations exercise as well as a means to sell advertising, although to be fair, it is fairly unobtrusive.

It's not enough these days that you get something both free of charge and free of obligations, so there are loads people that change their e-mail accounts more often than they change their socks, especially when the free mails are so cooperative in helping you to move from one to another. With just a few clicks of your friendly mouse you can have transferred your virtual address book from one account to another and are ready to go.

However few people take the trouble to erase their address book at the e-mail account they have just deserted. Hackers have caught on to, and have perceived that it is a crack in security armour. As is their way they are rushing through these cracks and using the e-mail addresses they find there to compromise the innocent.

The first time that you realise that your old e-mail account has become a hacker's hiding place is when you receive an e-mail from yourself, It will probably explain to you about some new deal or offer and imploring you to click on a link, which will be tainted in some form or other. And if your are getting one of your e-mails, then you can be sure that all of the people in your address book, friends, family and work colleagues are getting the same e-mail, and even a few are clicking on the link that their friend, loyal supplier or aging Auntie has sent them.

At this point internet security experts are unsure how hackers manage to get their hands on the address books of dormant e-mail accounts, but they certainly appear to be taking maximum advantage of it. Hotmail accounts seem to be the most compromised, with reports that Yahoo and Gmail account have also been hit. Closing your e-mail account and erasing your address book is always a good idea, however there have been reports that spammers have found away to re-activate them. Obviously, if they do, and find an empty address book they will rapidly move on.

Once again, there is evidence that computer hackers seem to be everywhere in line looking for opportunities to practice their evil trade. The only way that you can keep them at bay is ensuring that you have the most powerful anti-virus software available installed on your computer. That way if you get an e-mail from your great Auntie telling you about her latest compote recipe, if you click on her false online recipe book, the sirens will start blaring.

 

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