Posted by MikeC/TX on 8/11/12 9:08pm
Msg #430157

Somebody tried to hack my Yahoo email account

A message was sent to both my Yahoo account and the backup email account I provided them with, saying that I just tried to recover my password and asking me to confirm.

Umm - no, I didn't. I immediately logged into Yahoo and changed my password, using Roboform (my password manager of choice) to create a new strong password.

Kudos to Yahoo for giving me a heads up and a chance to react. I also have a gmail account, but that's protected by their two-step login. I don't think Yahoo has that capability yet, but at least they're smart enough to say "Hey - is this you?"

Be careful out there...

Reply by LKT/CA on 8/11/12 9:33pm
Msg #430161

Unfortunately, someone from Poland hacked into my yahoo account. Luckily, there was nothing in the contact/address list. I closed it and use gmail exclusively. Someone did try to hack into my gmail account but Google stopped them. I too utilize gmail's two-step login. In my case, yahoo wasn't smart enough to stop the hacker but Google was.

Reply by Ilene C. Seidel on 8/12/12 7:21am
Msg #430172

I've had to use Hotmail and Gmail, my yahoo account was hacked 2x. I was forced to erasing all my contacts in Yahoo and now only use it for pleasure. My friends and family have had the same problem. Yahoo is not as safe to use as gmail and hotmail.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 8/12/12 3:15pm
Msg #430195

After doing some poking around in the help section, I discovered that Yahoo mail does in fact offer a 2-step login. It's still in beta, which is probably why they haven't publicized it much, but it's there and it does seem to work. It works differently than gmail's in that Yahoo's only kicks in if you are logging in from a computer you don't normally use. When that happens, you will either have to answer a challenge question that you previously created, or enter a code that they will send to your cellphone.

Reply by LKT/CA on 8/12/12 4:00pm
Msg #430198

How to create a strong password

Use long words and capitalize letters in the middle, three oddball symbols, and at least five numbers (at least). Examples:

Not this: ChocolateCookie!@$1234

But this: chocLaTEcoOkiE{">123456

Can't remember that? write your password in code like this: xxoxXaXXxxXkiXx"xxxxx4x6

No one can tell where the word ends and where the symbols and numbers begin and end.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 8/12/12 6:52pm
Msg #430212

Re: How to create a strong password

"But this: chocLaTEcoOkiE{">123456

Can't remember that? write your password in code like this: xxoxXaXXxxXkiXx"xxxxx4x6

No one can tell where the word ends and where the symbols and numbers begin and end."

And neither can you, after a day or so at best...

Strong passwords are a tough thing to do manually - the better solution is to use a password manager that can both create strong passwords for you and then recall them for you when needed. I use Roboform, which automates my logins to every web site that requires a password. There are several free solutions out there, but I chose this one because it automatically synchs between my desktop and laptop without me having to do anything. The free ones, as far as I know, will only store the passwords in a "vault" on your computer, which is fine if you only have the one computer.

Reply by VT_Syrup on 8/12/12 7:15pm
Msg #430215

Re: How to create a strong password

At least one free one, Password Safe, lets you save a password-protected backup. That's essential, for when it comes time to replace your computer. You can also use the backup to sync a desktop and a laptop, although you have to keep after it. If you change some on the laptop and some on the desktop, without backing up either, you'll have to sync them manually. Maybe there are some programs that will look at both versions and guide you through the process of merging the different versions, I don't know.

The biggest hassle is when you have to use someone else's computer. You may be able to put your favorite password program on a thumb drive and run it on the other person's (or organization's) computer, or maybe not. The last time I had to do that, I had to resort to writing down the passwords I needed.

Reply by MikeC/TX on 8/12/12 10:52pm
Msg #430237

Re: How to create a strong password

"At least one free one, Password Safe, lets you save a password-protected backup. That's essential, for when it comes time to replace your computer. You can also use the backup to sync a desktop and a laptop, although you have to keep after it. If you change some on the laptop and some on the desktop, without backing up either, you'll have to sync them manually. Maybe there are some programs that will look at both versions and guide you through the process of merging the different versions, I don't know."

Roboform does that seamlessly - it costs something like $20/yr. When I bought a new desktop last year, I just installed Roboform on it, provided my license number and master password, and within a minute or two had all my login info available on Firefox, IE, and Chrome browsers.

I would not use it on someone else's computer, but in situations like that there would be a limited number of sites I would log onto anyway; I would write those passwords down instead.