Gmail Archives - John Sileo, Cyber Security Training

How to Stop Email Account Hackers (Fox & Friends)

How Secure is Your Gmail, Hotmail, YahooMail?

I just finished an interview with Esquire magazine about the security of webmail applications like Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and YahooMail. Rebecca Joy, who interviewed me on behalf of Esquire, wanted to know in the wake of the Rupert Murdoch phone-hacking scandal, how secure our photos and messages are when we choose to use free webmail programs.

The simple answer? Not very secure. Just ask Vanessa Hudgens (nude photos), Sarah Palin (complete takeover of her email account) and the scores of celebrities and power figures who have been victimized by email hacking.

Think of using webmail (or any web-based software, including Facebook, Twitter, Google Docs, etc.) as checking into a hotel room. Unlike a house, where you have tighter control over your possessions, the same is not true of a hotel. While you definitely own the items you bring into a hotel room (laptop, smartphone, wallet, passport, client files), you don’t have nearly as much control as to how they are accessed (maids, managers, social engineers who know how to gain access to your room). In short, by using webmail to communicate, you are exchanging convenience for control.

Facebook Email: Putting Every Last Egg in One Basket

Facebook wants a piece of every social interaction you have, which is why they are poised to offer you a free email account, just like Gmail or Hotmail.

Facebook’s newest features (email and eventually a built-in search engine) are aimed at making their website your one-stop shop for all things internet. Rumor has it that at 10:30am PT, Facebook will offer their existing users email addresses. And millions of existing users will take them up on their offer because it will be cool to have a Facebook email account and because we are all in short supply of email accounts to check 24/7. Other sources are saying that Facebook will soon be offering a search engine as well.