Internet help needed (security problem)

[Brian d marge]

Now be fore any one start ,,,I must start this thread by saying I know you shoudnt but I did as I though it would be ok ..ie the other party I know well!!

Anyhow, I sennt Visa Number by mail, Some how someone in the USA has managed to get it and use it !

833.33 us dollars ouch ! ..but no problem as we just stopped the payment

my question is How did they do it ?

I use thunderbird mail , Linux , with the all folders except the desktop permission only

The dealer I sent the info to I worked with for years and trust him with my daughter ( if I had one )

I sent 2 mails on that day one to him and one to Silkoline in Britain

any ideas about How I ve been breached ..?? ( As I said I use a Visa so just stopped the card, but it would be nice to know How they got in

and yes The odd dodgy site has been visited ,,( but swift fox always asks for confirmation before accepting cookies )??

Stephen

if it wasnt me the was it the other site?? the one recieving the mail on that day !?

[vamr]

I highly doubt it's client side.

However, do check you don't have a plethora of unused (or dated) services running.

[imdying]

You've sent your creditcard number out in cleartext for all the world to see... Plenty of links in the chain where it can be snooped. Keep to SSL web forms if buying off the net, preferably those setup by known entities like PayPal, and pay the extra for them to keep things secure. I have to say, the oh noes I thought linux was secure, gives me a little giggle. As vamr says though, it's probably not a client side problem.

[davereid]

Just like sending it on a postcard through the mail... nothing wrong with your pen, problems at the post office.

Time to encrypt your email I think !

[MOTOXXX]

could be something like a key logger but i doubt it if you are using rinix.

as above, you should keep to encrypted forms ie ssl

people capture packtes and can look at a lot of things you wouldnt think

rule of thumb is trust no one and use the most secure way you can.

[Brian d marge]

Like i said , no biggie just wondered how they did it. The trouble is the site I use , for Royal enfield doesnt have pay pal, so its either stuff money into envelope or send details

Im going with envelope next time !!!

Stephen

[davereid]

If you're going to be dealing with them a lot, include a password in the snail - mail. Next time you can send them your order zipped or whatever, and they can unzip it with the password.

Or, Pegasus email has encryption built in - its easy to use, but other fella needs Pegasus too. (Its good, NZ made and free).

Or you can get PGP, free as well, and you dont need to send the recipient the password, cos it uses asymetric stuff. But they need PGP as well...

[jrandom]

Wot all the other guys said.

Any time you send an email, there are literally hundreds of people who have the opportunity, legitimately or otherwise, should they be bored enough, to read it before it arrives in the recipient's inbox.

Email is not secure. It is, as davereid says, the equivalent of sending a postcard over the internet. So either restrict yourself to stuff you don't mind strangers reading, or use encryption so that they can't make sense of it if they do read it.

Personally, if I have to deal with a forn vendor that doesn't provide a secure website for credit card details, I place the order via email and then phone them with payment info.

If I was emailing anything that could prove to be more than mildly embarrassing, ie, commercially-sensitive or really-seriously-private personal stuff, I'd use GnuPG. Hushmail is a free-webmail alternative with the same security features.

Remember also that it's important to protect info on your actual PC, particularly if it's a laptop. Keep data encrypted, or don't keep it at all. The day you accidentally leave your laptop in a bus terminal will be the day you're eternally grateful that there's a solid AES-128 wall between curious thieves and the folders full of banking details, letters to your solicitor, and naked photos of your wife.

[Brian d marge]

thanks fellas , My suspicion is closer to home ...The wife ..as in making up an excuse to stop the credit card ( no more bike bits )

but it my be that someone has intercepted the card /mail ....

still its no biggie as wife aint going to much nutzo and there are other ways of buying bike bits

So its only the convienience that has been curtailed


Stephen

( ps this mail was encrypted by a confused mind )