Hotmail and Yahoo "Security" Rant

Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
I'd say that quite easily my greatest security concern with using Hotmail and Yahoo e-mail accounts are Hotmail and Yahoo security interventions. Compared with gmail their way of blocking accounts when one uses a different IP without a variety of options to fix the problem is a pain in the butt.

When I was in Oman a few days ago I hit on a very big problem with my yahoo mail account. Yahoo responded that it was suspicious and provided me with only one option to get in, which is to send a code to my alternate mail account that was hotmail. Navigate to my hotmail account and it came up with the EXACT same request - only one option - provide a code from my yahoo account. Checkmated. Next try to find an e-mail address to contact Yahoo support. And you'll find there isn't one. You get "possible" answers and I must have spent one hour navigating for possibilities but none found. No one at Yahoo thought of the possibility that maybe there are members who travel to other countries? Why not at least provide more than one option to verify an account? Probably a lazy person who coded that section and just completely thoughtless and idiotic.

At least I could get into my gmail account. So yes, maybe a solution is to have a gmail alternate account for all of my Yahoo, Hotmail and Outlook accounts.
 
GigaGreg

GigaGreg

Moderator
Staff member
For my yahoo account I have like 3 emails for the recovery.
I dont use hotmail much, because I don't like this email service.

You can set more than one recovery option and good one would be like gigarank email or gmail.
 
Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
I have more than one e-mail too with Yahoo, as well as three security questions. Think it would have been helpful if Yahoo provided at least two options for verification. Or better yet, an option like at Facebook to save the new browser details.
 
GigaGreg

GigaGreg

Moderator
Staff member
Yeah that would be helpful, but they want to be different from other companies. They could have done that, like some other way of verification that would be helpful for abroad going such as working like you or simple tourism.
 
Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
Think I'll make a date with myself this next weekend to sit down and fix my Yahoo and Hotmail alternate addresses to gmail. Particularly the ones I use quite often when I travel.
 
J

jaran

New member
I have one email on Yahoo Service but never used it for things that are very important. Yahoo is suck for their email service.
 
Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
jaran said:
I have one email on Yahoo Service but never used it for things that are very important. Yahoo is suck for their email service.
Click to expand...
You're so right about that Jaran. When it happened to me in Oman and I was searching for a Yahoo customer services e-mail that is non-existing, I came across so many discussions saying exactly what you said. Yahoo sucks with their e-mail NON-service.

Have just fixed an alternate gmail address for my main Website Yahoo account.

Anybody knows of other commercial accounts that won't trip a person up?
 
Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
That's exactly what I needed HR. Totally on the mark. Thank you very much! Just noticed it has protonmail on it too. Think I've heard of Lavabit before. May try them out. Oh dear. They've decided to close shop. I think I now know why they were so familiar to me. There was a problem with the FBI and the owner of Lavabit refusing to give FBI access. Good test for security for sure and hope they open up something new.

Here's the interview with the owner at the time:

[video=youtube]

Here is a full report written by Ladar Levinson in May of this year:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/20/why-did-lavabit-shut-down-snowden-email
 
Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
So learned something today after viewing people's responses to some of the documentation I came across on the subject of e-mail privacy that security is not possible if it is a US server subject to US laws. All of my commercial e-mail boxes are US, so am going to try out those with servers on hopefully a more private basis, although I guess there is no such thing as really being private on the Internet.

I signed up for protonmail and am waiting for an invitation - probably will take some time.

Was able to sign up immediately with openmailbox.org. Their server is in France. Guess that matches our Website of which the server is in France as well. :p

Now just wondering. When one does business on the Internet whether US Websites will allow e-mail addresses from abroad.
 
helpremember

helpremember

Member
Genesis said:
So learned something today after viewing people's responses to some of the documentation I came across on the subject of e-mail privacy that security is not possible if it is a US server subject to US laws. All of my commercial e-mail boxes are US, so am going to try out those with servers on hopefully a more private basis, although I guess there is no such thing as really being private on the Internet.

I signed up for protonmail and am waiting for an invitation - probably will take some time.

Was able to sign up immediately with openmailbox.org. Their server is in France. Guess that matches our Website of which the server is in France as well. :p

Now just wondering. When one does business on the Internet whether US Websites will allow e-mail addresses from abroad.
Click to expand...

That's a good question. I'll try to find the answer by experimentation. Maybe I'll try to change my Amazon account email to my ProtonMail account and see if it works - or better still, set up a fresh account. That's about as mainstream US as it gets!
 
Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
When I next get an opportunity for buying something on the Internet I'll do the same. I really like the openmailbox.org e-mail of mine. Was completely effortless to install, and everything exactly in the right place. I haven't been asked any information other than name of user and password. So far so good. Will give it a solid workout using it every where for a few months and travel in between.
 
B

bjuliant

New member
I just don't like how they delete everything after not logging in for so long. I had hundreds of emails between me and my friends that I wanted to keep. thought they were safe on hotmail, but they deleted them.
 
smalpierre

smalpierre

New member
There's a simple solution to all of this. Buy a $7 domain name, and use zoho, it's free. I use google cloud dns to point the domain, so that's free too. By all means though, keep the other email accounts. They're awesome spam catchers. All of my hotmail / gmail type addresses are just spam catchers I use to register with websites.

As a result, I get zero spam. Well, near zero - my mom's aol account was compromised, and they snagged her address book. Quick change of the email address and the spammers get returned undeliverable.

I also am never locked out of my email by some megacorporation for my own good ...
 
Genesis

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
smalpierre said:
There's a simple solution to all of this. Buy a $7 domain name, and use zoho, it's free. I use google cloud dns to point the domain, so that's free too. By all means though, keep the other email accounts. They're awesome spam catchers. All of my hotmail / gmail type addresses are just spam catchers I use to register with websites.
Click to expand...
But what do you do not to get locked out by hotmail? Gmail is OK, I've now made it so that my Hotmail alternate account is always a Gmail account, because when I travel, Gmail is easy for verifying an account, but what does one do when one has an alternate Hotmail account for Hotmail, and both get queried? Sort of irksome. Particularly when one is on a foreign computer, don't have much time as one is on holiday, and now have to fiddle around in order to get into an account and can't.

I've seen Zoho, but I seem to recall at the time I tried it that it felt a little clumsy to connect up with the DNS. Kind'a needs a very detailed step by step recipe or something. Or maybe a super geek ... :p
 
smalpierre

smalpierre

New member
Genesis said:
So learned something today after viewing people's responses to some of the documentation I came across on the subject of e-mail privacy that security is not possible if it is a US server subject to US laws. All of my commercial e-mail boxes are US, so am going to try out those with servers on hopefully a more private basis, although I guess there is no such thing as really being private on the Internet.

I signed up for protonmail and am waiting for an invitation - probably will take some time.

Was able to sign up immediately with openmailbox.org. Their server is in France. Guess that matches our Website of which the server is in France as well. :p

Now just wondering. When one does business on the Internet whether US Websites will allow e-mail addresses from abroad.
Click to expand...

If you are seriously concerned about privacy, you'll have to run your own server. Encrypt the hard drive with TrueCrypt. http://www.techworld.com/news/security/fbi-hackers-fail-to-crack-truecrypt-3228701/

Then use strong end to end public/private key encryption, and conveniently forget your passwords if your stuff gets confiscated.
 
smalpierre

smalpierre

New member
"Lavabit has been told they would face serious criminal sanction if they discuss what is being done to their company "

So much for the first amendment right? The next step is that it will be a crime to talk about electing someone other than republicrats - because if you vote independent you're wasting your vote and that should be illegal ...

Personally, i'd have gone to every single news outlet I could find and sing like a canary about it. F. U!!! Put me in jail for exercising my right to tell the world about what's going on. If they think these riots in Ferguson are bad, wait til there's no way to bury your head in the sand anymore believing that this government is legitimate and just ...

However I don't blame him for making the choice that he did. It's telling enough that he was silenced under threat of violence of our fearless leaders.

When their hit squads are told that they can't search something and they are told no - not without a warrant - they often say "If you have nothing to hide, then what are you worried about?" So what exactly are they afraid of? The public body known as government isn't a person and doesn't have these rights to privacy.

George Washington would have told his armies to stay home, it isn't worth the trouble if he knew where we'd be today.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.