[GTALUG] blackmail

[ac]

On Sat, 4 Aug 2018 09:14:38 -0400 (EDT)
"D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
> | From: ac via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
> | essentially : Spam is dead. (So, you do not have to receive these
> | 'blackmail' emails)
> 
> Thanks for the hints on spam.
> 
> This particular email contained valuable information: that Canada
> Computers had been hacked.  So I'm glad that it got through to me.  I
> don't want it filtered out.

no, not really. by the time you receive the type of email you have, it is way too late.

The email you received is from a bulk mailer and the syndicates already
know that the information that they have your password is only of importance 
to be used to scare you into paying.

Cyber crime is a business. It has costs, risks, returns and
information/data is all important. The only time you will receive your
password as part of a ransom email is when there is no value left in
the data itself.

So, it is in fact pointless, useless and wasteful spam.

That you think your blackmail email contained valuable data is funny :)

How sure are you that it was Canada Computers? Are you saying that that
was the only place you used that password? And, is it a current
password (dollars to donuts says: no...) and with Google hacked, Yahoo
hacked, Microsoft hacked, it matters very little anyway... Change your
passwords every 30 days (or less) and never use the same password
twice (or even anywhere else) - If they sent me my google/yahoo/etc
password - I would even be able to tell you from which week it came :)

hth

Andre