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Email Protection: As Important as Password Protection

Guest post by: Bill Golden

Article Overview: As you may know, email marketing service provider, Epsilon, sustained a major security breach and now at least your name and email address are in the hands of spammers. Here are at least some of the companies affected...

Email Protection: As Important as Password Protection

As you may know, email marketing service provider, Epsilon, sustained a major security breach and now at least your name and email address are in the hands of spammers. Here are at least some of the companies affected: • Kroger

• TiVo

• US Bank

• JPMorgan Chase

• Capital One

• Citi

• Home Shopping Network (HSN)(added 4/3 @10:22am)

• Ameriprise Financial

• LL Bean Visa Card

• Lacoste

• AbeBooks

• McKinsey & Company

• Ritz-Carlton Rewards

• Marriott Rewards

• New York & Company

• Brookstone

• Walgreens (Again!)

• The College Board (added 4/3 @8:20am)

• Disney Destinations

• Best Buy

• Robert Half Technologies

For years, I have used Yahoo's disposable email address service to create vendor/account-unique email addresses. Every time I buy something or enter into a new "vendor relationship" online, I create a unique email address. (I am presently up to around 450 out of 500 allowed, per Yahoo account.) By creating disposable email addresses, if there is a security breach involving an email account or if the account gets spammed, I can easily delete the offending email account and create a new one.

In addition to Yahoo, there are other kinds of similar services as well. Techie Buzz discusses some on a March, 2009 post (Google: 10-temporary-disposable-email-services).

I have only used Yahoo's service, but of the ones at Techie Buzz, MyTrashMail.com looks to be the most promising. However, you will have to go to their site to read any of the emails, and that's a tad inconvenient in my book. I'm sticking with Yahoo, but just for this service. (P.S., I have read that Hotmail now offers a similar service.)

Whichever path you choose, you will end up better protected than you are now and hopefully, you will get better control of your email world. Let me know how it goes!

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Article Tags: breach, buzz, disposable, email, email address, Epsilon, hotmail, marketing service, mytrashmail, security, security breach, service provider, spam, spammers, techie, temporary, yahoo



Related Forum Posts
Re: Protect yourself from Hackers - Good tips ideasuniversity! So can I ask what kind of software protection you personally use for your computer? From my understanding, hackers are now moving onto attacking Macs more than PCs and also cell phones. Is having your cell phone data stolen a major concern for anyone? Does anyone have any cell phone "protection"?
Re: The Top 50 Get Out of Debt Blogs To Watch In 2009 - [quote="Kevin":3hwwxtoa]I think banks are kind of sneaky. By always offering an overdraft protection, it's a false sense of security... because in fact banks are really trying to lure customers into debt so they can profit from the interest. Like the cliche saying: "Give someone enough rope and they'll probably hang himself/herself".[/quote:3hwwxtoa] It's smart for the banks to do so, though. They're a business also, and they have to make money just like any other business. I personally could care less about overdraft protection. My account comes with it for free up to $200, but I never plan on ever using it. But, I'm glad I did have it when I did need it, although it wasn't my fault. I would never purposefully overdraft.
Re: The Top 50 Get Out of Debt Blogs To Watch In 2009 - Hi Evan, That is a very impressive list you have there. Some great resources for anyone looking to get out of debt and learn to manage their money wisely. Great discussion about overdrafts. Yes, I would be very worried about your husband's overdraft. I didn't realize you could have an overdraft that big. When my bank account was compromised recently, my account overdrafted twice, which cost me $35 each time. The fees were waived due to the circumstance, but anyone overdrafting on a regular basis would pay a lot in fees alone. I guess it would depend on what kind of account that is set up, but I imagine there is a limit on how much overdraft protection is available. For me, I have overdraft protection up to $200, which means my bank will cover the first $200 that is overdrafted. I'm not sure what would happen after that, but I don't plan on ever finding out. I would suggest not ever overdrafting as it's the same as being in debt, and I would pay it off as quickly as possible.
Re: How Much Money Do You Make Online? - Yep, I could definitely see sun protection being a good niche. Nice find! Don't tell too many people about it or it will get piled on by everyone and their dog!
Re: Be aware of System Security 2009 - Thanks for the heads up. I just got a brand new dell computer and this sucker has more protection on it than I know what to do with. It's actually kind of annoying at times but it's better to be safe than sorry!


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