Yahoo email security

[alaskabibear]

It seems that a lot of people (including me) use Yahoo for web based email and Instant Messaging. I know there are other similar email programs. I'm wondering just how secure the private information Yahoo has on me really is? I'm not worried about anything illegal since I don't do anything that should interest the law, but can other people I chat with online obtain anything personal about me? (I'm also concerned about Yahoo getting absorbed by Microsoft - I know I don't trust them!)

Also, when I do an attachment using the "browse" attachment function, the entire file path shows up in the little attachment box (however, it doesn't seem to show up on the attachment itself.) Question is, can someone with computer knowledge somehow pull out the file path info from what I send them?

Finally, what do some of you computer experts recommend for a confidential web based email / message provider?

Thanks

 

[exposed]

It seems that a lot of people (including me) use Yahoo for web based email and Instant Messaging. I know there are other similar email programs. I'm wondering just how secure the private information Yahoo has on me really is? I'm not worried about anything illegal since I don't do anything that should interest the law, but can other people I chat with online obtain anything personal about me? (I'm also concerned about Yahoo getting absorbed by Microsoft - I know I don't trust them!)

Also, when I do an attachment using the "browse" attachment function, the entire file path shows up in the little attachment box (however, it doesn't seem to show up on the attachment itself.) Question is, can someone with computer knowledge somehow pull out the file path info from what I send them?

Finally, what do some of you computer experts recommend for a confidential web based email / message provider?

Thanks

Use Gmail and Gtalk.

 

[alaskabibear]

Use Gmail and Gtalk.

Can you elaborate? What are the benefits, etc?

 

[exposed]

Can you elaborate? What are the benefits, etc?

I find Gmail, Gtalk (google software) to be easier or more trusted personally.
There is no real concern, you are just over worrying.
Any email sent will be sent with packets that send info to the receiver such as: time sent, IP sent from etc.
If you want to get really paranoid, in theory the receiver of the email could look at the IP you sent it from and find out your service provider's location and what not, but even that is not just readily accessible.
Google is less likely to be "absorbed" by Microsoft though if it's any consolation.

 

[SweetErika]

Also, if you're using Yahoo, you may not be getting some of your emails. I know a lot of Yahoo email users who have been getting mail days late or not at all for many months. Plus, they attach those annoying ads to the end of your emails.

So, yeah, I'd switch to something better for sure. It's hard to get worse than Yahoo or Hotmail. I've used a lot of different email providers over the years, and have found Gmail to be the best. I have multiple gmail accounts: personal, anonymous, business, mailing lists, potential spam. They're all linked to my main account, but I could just as easily unlink/ignore one if it became problematic. Gmail gives me a lot of other stuff for free that I'd have to pay for elsewhere, too.

If you're super-concerned about security, there are providers that tout their safety out there. Some are free; many aren't. Off the top of my head, a couple are Safemail and Lavabit. Hubby uses Lavabit, but I don't have experience with either.

 

[alaskabibear]

Thanks. Ignorance can breed paranoia, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm pretty ignorant about computers. I was aware of the IP address and that doesn't bother me - I don't think my service provider is going to give out personal info to just anyone. I think most anyone with just a tad more knowledge than I have can learn the type of browser, the location the IP is originating from and the operating system used - but that all seems pretty unimportant and useless for someone trying to do something ugly.

Any thoughts on the attachments? The way my computer was set up, the file name shows more than I would want to send out to someone I don't really know (again, that seems to be only before I select to actually attach it).

 

[alaskabibear]

Also, if you're using Yahoo, you may not be getting some of your emails. I know a lot of Yahoo email users who have been getting mail days late or not at all for many months. Plus, they attach those annoying ads to the end of your emails.

So, yeah, I'd switch to something better for sure. It's hard to get worse than Yahoo or Hotmail. I've used a lot of different email providers over the years, and have found Gmail to be the best. I have multiple gmail accounts: personal, anonymous, business, mailing lists, potential spam. They're all linked to my main account, but I could just as easily unlink/ignore one if it became problematic. Gmail gives me a lot of other stuff for free that I'd have to pay for elsewhere, too.

If you're super-concerned about security, there are providers that tout their safety out there. Some are free; many aren't. Off the top of my head, a couple are Safemail and Lavabit. Hubby uses Lavabit, but I don't have experience with either.

Thanks Erika,

That would be a real bummer to be missing some emails. We have been trying to sell some stuff online and it seems people are interested and when we send more info we don't hear back? Could be they just loose interest but I would hate to think they were serious and we never got their mail.

Sounds like you both like and trust Gmail, I'll go check it out.

 

[Lamont Cranston]

For what it is worth

Nobody knows me here but I need to put my 2 cents in here. I don't know how easy and reliable gmail and gtalk are but I do know that Google collects much more information on the content than other free providers -- part of that has to do with the ads they support gmail with. Google also never deletes any information it collects from email or searches. There was an article this past weekend on their information retention -- I believe it was in the New York Times. Not my favorite publication, but in this case they're right. At least until last year Yahoo did have a time limit on data retention and did not have a keyword search on every email. I'm pretty sure that hasn't changed but the privacy policy would spell it out.

I don't have any of the delay issues with any of my Yahoo! email accounts and while I know they can 'find' me if they want to for the most part you can have an email address there without disclosing too much and they don't know if it is accurate. They can find any computer but as far as just the 'casual' non-law enforcement search goes you can be fairly anonymous.

I'm not a Google fan because of their data retention and keyword search policies so my views are probably a bit clouded by that.

Good luck,
LC

ETA: The article was on Monday 7.21 on Minyanville.com not the New York Times.

 

[alaskabibear]

Lamont,

Actually I share your concern about Google - I even try not to use their search engine. Seems like they talk a good line but IMO it's all about the bottom line profit just like any other mega-corporation (they caved pretty quick to allow censorship so they could be in China - so much for principles?). I'm thinking the same thing will happen to Yahoo when Microsoft gains control of them.

I don't mean to sound paranoid, I just don't want to do something stupid on a supposedly anonymous email set-up that I don't really understand. I think we're just forced to swallow some of the corporate theft of privacy if we choose to use their products. I'm more concerned about some pervert or criminal gaining info that could be used to my harm.

I know that there is one web email that is based in England (I think I "know" that) - but now that it appears the Big Bro can do wire taps w/o a warrant for overseas transmissions - well, I don't care for that option either.

I think I'll look into the Safemail and Lavabit that Erika mentioned.

 

[exposed]

Google has to much money/power to give in to Microsoft.

 

[toyotomi]

Whatever web-based email client you use make sure you choose a strong password. If you use a password that's too short or too simple it won't take a hacker long at all to crack it.

Google tends to be better with security than Yahoo and is certainly better with their spam filters and I've never had an email mysteriously vanish in to the ether before or after transmission with Google. That isn't to say that it's infalible. It can be cracked like any other email client.

There are some more secure mail clients out there that have hefty encryption and there's one I used to know of that was particularly good at that, but I've misplaced the name of it. If I do think of it I'll post it.

 

[SweetErika]

Lamont,

Actually I share your concern about Google - I even try not to use their search engine. Seems like they talk a good line but IMO it's all about the bottom line profit just like any other mega-corporation (they caved pretty quick to allow censorship so they could be in China - so much for principles?). I'm thinking the same thing will happen to Yahoo when Microsoft gains control of them.

I don't mean to sound paranoid, I just don't want to do something stupid on a supposedly anonymous email set-up that I don't really understand. I think we're just forced to swallow some of the corporate theft of privacy if we choose to use their products. I'm more concerned about some pervert or criminal gaining info that could be used to my harm.

I know that there is one web email that is based in England (I think I "know" that) - but now that it appears the Big Bro can do wire taps w/o a warrant for overseas transmissions - well, I don't care for that option either.

I think I'll look into the Safemail and Lavabit that Erika mentioned.

Yes, money's involved, but I think Google's pretty good in most respects. I don't care if they collect anonymous info about me or use keywords for ads (which I can easily ignore or block); it's not like someone's actually reading my personal correspondence, or I'm even writing anything that is very sensitive anyway.

FWIW, I have quite a few friends who do understand the technology and security and are very anti-Microsoft-type-establishment, and they all use Google and Gmail. Like me, they don't send very personal info, like passwords and SSNs, via email, but they don't see a problem with it otherwise. Gmail does have a secure site (add an 'S' after 'http'), and if you choose a good password, I doubt you'll have problems.

I'm curious to know what search engine you do use. I've found MSN, Yahoo, Ask, etc., to be a joke. I've used Google since 1998 and haven't found anything better yet, though there's supposed to be a really awesome, "intelligent" one coming out (or maybe the beta is out already...I just can't remember the name of it! ).

 

[Noira]

Myself, I use GoodSearch and Google. All other search engines, in my humble opinion, suck.

When it comes to passwords, always include at least one number and one symbol, and even better, one capitalized letter, so you could get something like se*ym0mmA which you could remember because of the phrase, but would be less hackable because of the bonus symbols. A lot of people go all "you should use t3()oiGc3 as your password!" but you couldn't remember that, but for password security you should at the very LEAST have a number in it and not be a word in the dictionary. Though admittedly the random string is a far more secure password, could you remember it? XP Passwords should be something memorable to you but not easily crackable. And always contain numbers and symbols, or dictionary hacks work. I get so mad when sites don't let me use symbols. ><

Gmail is a much better mail client than Yahoo, Yahoo occasionally spam filters my GOOD emails and Gmail has never... it catches all my spam and it's so easy to use and gTalk in there isn't that bad either. I prefer Yahoo to Hotmail, though.

Do not trust.

And on IP addresses... dude, IP addresses are a lot more scary of information to be known than you realize. Your IP address may change on a regular basis but people also have a 'static' IP address. I know some people who got mad at this kid who did something online and they tracked down his exact address using the information they could get by being admins on a chat server.

Just sayin'.

That's not quite IM or email, mind you, and most people aren't nerds enough to know how to do that... I used to do this to scare people though, back when I was 14, I had an internet forum and I was an admin so I could see IP addresses. I put up a thread and went 'do this name generator thing!'--the name generator being a Star Wars name generator, which takes pieces of your name and rearranges them--then I PMed them what their name was, determined from the name generator they'd innocently done and their location, thanks to their IP address--the location was just their state since the changing IP address isn't exact, and I knew the algorithims the name generators I'd posted worked by.

And I was a kid then...

Back to emails, my mom has email randomly disappear from her gmail too--and I've had email randomly disappear from my Yahoo and Hotmail... never a problem with Gmail, though. If you're truely paranoid, I guess you need to get your own webserver for email and never use search engines ever again. ^_^

I look at it this way: thousands and thousands of people have Gmail accounts, thousands of people are using Google for search... they're making millions... there's no real people with the time to go through this. Maybe bots watch my searching patterns to give me better ads. That's fine. But there's no real person with the TIME to go through all the emails sent through Gmail. There'd be no profit in it.

I worry more about someone cracking my password (so I change them regularly) or my IP address. (shrugs)

But I'm not sending highly sensitive information either...

As a nerd, I stick by Gmail for my favorite webbased client.

 

[alaskabibear]

Thanks again to all who helped. And I really learned a lot from Noira, I think you hit on the type of concerns I have - not so much about the corporations skimming info (irritating but inevitable), but it's the person that has a lot of technical knowledge but little moral character that really concerns me. Now with all the info I received here from everyone I can begin to revamp my "security plan".

Oh, and to answer Erika's question about which search engine I use - I usually use yahoo. But I'm not too good at doing searches anyway and I usually don't try to search for anything too complicated. I just got a bit pissed at Google awhile back - I'm sure I'll get over it and use them again. (And that's especially true if/when Microsoft takes over yahoo - I've always been mostly a Mac user, but I recently bought a PC with WindowsXP and have never felt like someone had me by the throat as much as with Microsoft! It's like the damn PC knows that Microsoft is it's real master and I am just the guy who paid for it!)

 

[openminded_boca]

big fan of GMAIL

my 2 cents: I've been using gmail for their email service for about a while now. I love it so much that I actually (getting a bit techy) use their email program to import email from other accounts. Which means I not only get emails with the gmail.com extension but also use gmail for optonline.net extensions.

Plus, their spam filter is amazing. My inbox only receives worthy emails.

BUT there is a catch. Gmail takes a while to get used to. Its hard to explain but heres quick explaination. lets take Yahoo when you get a "reply" email it shows up on a separate line. Well, with gmail you do see that you got a new email but it shows on the same line as the original email. It groups according to the subject. Tricky but once you understand it, you will LOVE this program.

As far as the chat programs go, Ive used yahoo in the past but always hated it because whenever I am on I get hit with BOTS (spam) messages. Yes, I can stop that but why can't yahoo? It should be stopped on their end not mine. If I block everyone then a legit person cant message me because everyone thats not on my list is blocked. They don't even get a msg saying that they are blocked.

 

[Primalex]

Yes, money's involved, but I think Google's pretty good in most respects. I don't care if they collect anonymous info about me or use keywords for ads (which I can easily ignore or block);

With your account they already have personalized data. And if they have it, other people will get it. Did you sleep the last weeks? YouTube/Google having to hand over user history to ViaCom? Does this ring a bell?

 

[SweetErika]

Oh, and to answer Erika's question about which search engine I use - I usually use yahoo. But I'm not too good at doing searches anyway and I usually don't try to search for anything too complicated. I just got a bit pissed at Google awhile back - I'm sure I'll get over it and use them again. (And that's especially true if/when Microsoft takes over yahoo - I've always been mostly a Mac user, but I recently bought a PC with WindowsXP and have never felt like someone had me by the throat as much as with Microsoft! It's like the damn PC knows that Microsoft is it's real master and I am just the guy who paid for it!)

If you think XP is bad, you should try Vista (on someone else's computer, of course )! XP is a dream in comparison.

Of course you could greatly increase your security by switching to Linux. Some of the distributions are actually really good and user-friendly now, and the security concerns are few and far between compared to M$.

my 2 cents: I've been using gmail for their email service for about a while now. I love it so much that I actually (getting a bit techy) use their email program to import email from other accounts. Which means I not only get emails with the gmail.com extension but also use gmail for optonline.net extensions.

Plus, their spam filter is amazing. My inbox only receives worthy emails.

BUT there is a catch. Gmail takes a while to get used to. Its hard to explain but heres quick explaination. lets take Yahoo when you get a "reply" email it shows up on a separate line. Well, with gmail you do see that you got a new email but it shows on the same line as the original email. It groups according to the subject. Tricky but once you understand it, you will LOVE this program.

Great points there, o_b. I've had a great experience with their spam filters, too. I might get a spammy message in my inbox every once in a while, but those are so few and far between that they don't even rise to the level of a minor annoyance.

I found the message grouping pretty intuitive, but I do recall a bit of a learning curve with gmail in general (although it's gotten better since I first got it). Now I don't think I could live without that damn grouping...it makes it so easy to carry on a conversation! I couldn't live without the email searching, either...that's saved my ass many a time when I had to find a phone number or something quickly!

As far as the chat programs go, Ive used yahoo in the past but always hated it because whenever I am on I get hit with BOTS (spam) messages. Yes, I can stop that but why can't yahoo? It should be stopped on their end not mine. If I block everyone then a legit person cant message me because everyone thats not on my list is blocked. They don't even get a msg saying that they are blocked.

I had a huge problem with this with Yahoo. I switched to Pidgin and have the 'block all messages except from buddy list' feature enabled and haven't had a spam message since. But then I don't want to get messages from random people who aren't on my list, anyway. I figure if I like someone enough to chat with them, I'll add them to my list, at least until I don't want to talk to them anymore.