At last, something that is truly within my scope of expertise, if not in
the best of circumstances. :-(
First of all, point your browser at:
http://www.smat.us/sanity/index.html
It will help you understand the issues around password selection. This
is a web site owned by a good friend of mine who is a true expert in the
field of internet security. Let me state emphatically that I am _NOT_
Dr. Rick Smith, nor do I play him on the Internet!
I've tried several different techniques to track down your hacker, but
he doesn't appear to be using that ID in publick places. Perhaps the
security techs at PayPal will be able to do some more effective
searching if they have any email associated with the attack - email
headers can be very useful for this sort of forensics.
This looks like a good time to review your personal password algorithms.
Sp00ky
Dan Knight wrote:
> As many of you may already know, Low End Mac's PayPal account was
> hijacked over the weekend. Someone using the email address
> "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" managed to hack my password, add his/her address to the
> account, remove my access to the account, and break the bank.
[...snip...]
> I'm asking for help from anyone out there who may have the skills to help
> track this person down. spils.com is a free email site, so I don't expect
> they'll be able to help very much. Google has only turned up two
> candidates, neither of who may be the party in question.
[...snip...]
> If you have any other ideas, please email me at my [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> address.
>
> Finally, if you use PayPal, ask yourself how secure your password might
> be from someone hacking it. I thought mine was pretty good -- nothing
> you'd find in a dictionary -- but it wasn't good enough. If you're
> changing your password, think UPPER CASE and lower case letters plus
> numbers and punctuation. The new password on my personal PayPal account
> (not hacked, thank goodness!) covers the whole spectrum.
--
Spiritus ex Machina
No matter how paranoid you are, it isn't paranoid enough.
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