As some of you know, my computer was hacked this past week and scam messages sent out. All my email addresses, files, folders, etc were erased and are not recoverable since my computer back-ups don't back up things like yahoo - only things on the hard drive (all my photos are safe)
Too late now... but moving forward..
What reliable, secure email servers do people here use? Can't be too expensive..
Thanks -
Sandy
Posted by Lon Overacker on September 11, 2011 at 9:08 PM
Sandy,
Real sorry to hear about all the troubles. Unfortunately, my answer to your email question.... isn't "secure email" an oxymoron? I would concentrate on securing your PC, your passwords (using "strong" passwords,) anti-virus, etc. etc. Some hosts may be more diligent than others, but frankly, if government and corporate emails/systems can be hacked, nothing is ever really "secure." Perhaps you just might want to stick with a free email like gmail or something. And once you get your contact list built back up, make sure you export it and save it! Good luck with everything.
Lon
Posted by Jim DeWitt on September 12, 2011 at 2:02 AM
Some suggestions, Sandy:
(1) Run your email through a pre-screening malware system. My law firm uses Postini (which I think is owned by Google now) and with "training" it does a decent job. It's something like $12/year per user.
(2) Invest in a decent client-side malware product. I'm not the person to ask which one is best, or most cost-effective.
(3) Use FireFox instead of Explorer when using the internet, particularly if you go to places that carry a risk of malware infiltration.
Almost all malware infections are enclosures to emails that you choose to read (at least if you have things configured properly). If you don't know who the message is from, don't open it. If you know the sender but weren't expecting a message, confirm with the sender before opening.
(Malware was one reason I've never been tempted to leave the Mac platform, even though there's software for Windows I'd really like to use.)
Most ISP's (Internet Service Provider) offer an e-mail account that will have spam filtering. This is something you might want to look in to. My ISP uses WebMail which has virus detection and spam filtering. This is done before this junk reaches my computer.
Lon's suggestion to use strong passwords and securing your PC cannot be over-emphasized! I will add that you might consider a backup solution such as Acronis True Image that will backup everything on your machine to an external drive. That way, when a drive fails, or a virus corrupts your OS, you'll be able to recover (relatively) easily .
I'll second Jim's suggestion regarding MalWare detection. Here are my top three: MalWare Bytes, Ad-Aware, and Spybot. There are free versions of each.
Nasty attachments to e-mails and links to fraudulent web sites are very prevalent. They prey upon our emotions. As Jims says, if you you don't know who the message or attachement is from, or it looks fishy for some reason, don't open it. If the message contains link(s) to a website, don't click it unless you know for sure that it is safe. For example, I get these official looking messages from Bank of America telling me I need to update my account information, followed by a link. Well, I don't have any accounts with BoA. Red Flag! Delete!
My wife's Yahoo e-mail account was hacked and was sending spam. Fortunately, the malware did not affect her computer. The only way she could fix it was to delete the account and open a new one. I note this because even the biggest web-based e-mail providers are not immune to the miscreants.
I will say that Mac platforms are not inherently immune to viruses and malware. Here to fore, Macs have not really been on the hacker's radar, but this is changing rapidly because the installed base of Mac hardware is growing. Anyone with a Mac that is connected to the Web is at risk if they don't take steps to secure their machine.
Well, I've rambled on here, but hopefully there are some nuggets you'll find useful. I hope you get things sorted out in short order.
I already have Ad-Aware, Spybot, and Panda running. Panda screens every email and does a whole scan of hard-drive and more every time I re-boot (every day).
I very rarely open attachments. My password is changed every 4 weeks and is a random conbination of * ( and $ that no one would guess or get thru easily. My spam is filtered carefully and all new senders are put in a separate file for me to personally approve.
Still, something got thru and wreaked havoc !
I just got an email "from" you via NPN asking that I respond so my address could be added back to your lost address book.
Is that email really from you, or is it a remnant from your recent attack? Seemed odd to get an email asking me to respond so you could have my email address.
Just checking before pushing the button.
Posted by Sally King on September 18, 2011 at 7:23 PM
I answered that same e-mail so hoping it was the real thing. Sorry you are having such a hard time with computer stuff on top of everything else.
Posted by Walter Rowe on September 24, 2011 at 2:36 PM
Sandy. I host my email at Google. I've never had an issue. I don't use any Microsoft products. I had one bad Windows infiltration and I was done with Microsoft. If you are using a mail client to access your Yahoo mail, you need to make sure you are doing it over a secure protocol. The pop protocol is a clear-text protocol, so your login ID and password travel through the ethos in the clear where any network watcher can grab it. I use secured IMAP with Google and have had no issues.
Discussion
7 repliesToo late now... but moving forward..
What reliable, secure email servers do people here use? Can't be too expensive..
Thanks -
Sandy
Real sorry to hear about all the troubles. Unfortunately, my answer to your email question.... isn't "secure email" an oxymoron? I would concentrate on securing your PC, your passwords (using "strong" passwords,) anti-virus, etc. etc. Some hosts may be more diligent than others, but frankly, if government and corporate emails/systems can be hacked, nothing is ever really "secure." Perhaps you just might want to stick with a free email like gmail or something. And once you get your contact list built back up, make sure you export it and save it! Good luck with everything.
Lon
(1) Run your email through a pre-screening malware system. My law firm uses Postini (which I think is owned by Google now) and with "training" it does a decent job. It's something like $12/year per user.
(2) Invest in a decent client-side malware product. I'm not the person to ask which one is best, or most cost-effective.
(3) Use FireFox instead of Explorer when using the internet, particularly if you go to places that carry a risk of malware infiltration.
Almost all malware infections are enclosures to emails that you choose to read (at least if you have things configured properly). If you don't know who the message is from, don't open it. If you know the sender but weren't expecting a message, confirm with the sender before opening.
(Malware was one reason I've never been tempted to leave the Mac platform, even though there's software for Windows I'd really like to use.)
Most ISP's (Internet Service Provider) offer an e-mail account that will have spam filtering. This is something you might want to look in to. My ISP uses WebMail which has virus detection and spam filtering. This is done before this junk reaches my computer.
Lon's suggestion to use strong passwords and securing your PC cannot be over-emphasized! I will add that you might consider a backup solution such as Acronis True Image that will backup everything on your machine to an external drive. That way, when a drive fails, or a virus corrupts your OS, you'll be able to recover (relatively) easily .
I'll second Jim's suggestion regarding MalWare detection. Here are my top three: MalWare Bytes, Ad-Aware, and Spybot. There are free versions of each.
Nasty attachments to e-mails and links to fraudulent web sites are very prevalent. They prey upon our emotions. As Jims says, if you you don't know who the message or attachement is from, or it looks fishy for some reason, don't open it. If the message contains link(s) to a website, don't click it unless you know for sure that it is safe. For example, I get these official looking messages from Bank of America telling me I need to update my account information, followed by a link. Well, I don't have any accounts with BoA. Red Flag! Delete!
My wife's Yahoo e-mail account was hacked and was sending spam. Fortunately, the malware did not affect her computer. The only way she could fix it was to delete the account and open a new one. I note this because even the biggest web-based e-mail providers are not immune to the miscreants.
I will say that Mac platforms are not inherently immune to viruses and malware. Here to fore, Macs have not really been on the hacker's radar, but this is changing rapidly because the installed base of Mac hardware is growing. Anyone with a Mac that is connected to the Web is at risk if they don't take steps to secure their machine.
Well, I've rambled on here, but hopefully there are some nuggets you'll find useful. I hope you get things sorted out in short order.
--P
I very rarely open attachments. My password is changed every 4 weeks and is a random conbination of * ( and $ that no one would guess or get thru easily. My spam is filtered carefully and all new senders are put in a separate file for me to personally approve.
Still, something got thru and wreaked havoc !
Thanks for all the good ideas.
Sandy
I just got an email "from" you via NPN asking that I respond so my address could be added back to your lost address book.
Is that email really from you, or is it a remnant from your recent attack? Seemed odd to get an email asking me to respond so you could have my email address.
Just checking before pushing the button.