I got Spam from a site I visited. How does a web site get my e-mail address?
By jdoepro | March 8, 2011
Maybe from your web browser. (I’ve condensed the answers after scouring the web; includes excerpt from article by Uri Raz.)
Some sites use methods to extract a surfer’s email address from their browser, sometimes without the surfer noticing it. Using the HTTP_FROM header that browsers send to the server, some browsers pass a header with your email address to every web server you visit. To check if your browser simply gives your email address to everybody this way, visit http://privacy.net/analyze/.
They can use JavaScript to prompt the browser to send an email to a chosen address with the email address configured into the browser. Some browsers would allow email to be sent when the mouse passes over some part of a page. Unless the browser is properly configured, no warning is issued.
Also, if one reads email through a browser, they may be subject to active content (Active X, applets, Javascript, etc.) or web bugs.
Besides the browser, another way is using finger daemons. Some are set to be very friendly. A finger query asking for john@host may produce list info including the login names for all people named John on that host. A query for @host can produce a list of all currently logged-on users.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Another Easy Step to Protect Yourself From Identify Theft
By jdoepro | February 9, 2011
There’s a website called spokeo.com. It’s an online directory that shows ALL sorts of private information when you search someone’s name. It gives the names of everyone in your household, your address, the value of your home, your age, etc. Yikes. I found myself on it this morning under my maiden name.
To be removed:
Search for yourself, then copy the URL (it’s in the address field at the top of your browser and looks something like:
http://www.spokeo.com/search?q=your%20name%2C%20city%2C%20s#:173665/info).
Next, click the privacy link at the bottom of the page and you’ll be given a form into which you can paste your URL.
Topics: cool site, Personal Management | No Comments »
Make Sure a Web Site is Virus-Free BEFORE You Visit
By jdoepro | December 22, 2010
Do you want to visit a web site, but just aren’t sure if it’s safe to click on that link? Does it look suspicious?
Here’s an online tool that lets you scan the site for viruses before you visit it. Just copy and paste the suspicious link into the form here, http://www.urlvoid.com/, then click the “Scan Now” button. You’ll receive results from several online scanner services that let you know whether this site is “clean” or not. It also tells you the country the site is served from.
Topics: cool site, free | No Comments »
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