The post below was written in response to one of my group's members who believes that one of his accounts has been compromised. It's cross-posted here and elsewhere because:

1. I get tired of re-writing these types of 101s.
2. I don't need tons of .txt files taking up my valuable hard drive space.

Thanks for the alert. There's far more to keylogging and brute force cracking than stated in the initial post. The info below is written for everyone's benefit. Online security and privacy affects us all. A compromised account is a potential liability which can extend far beyond the scope of a single individual.

Script kiddies are a dime a dozen, and easy to thwart. One simple, common sense approach is to have a single email address which is used exclusively for online account registrations and NOTHING else. Protect this info diligently and never post it publicly anywhere!

Personal email - communications between folks with whom one actually wants to interact - are best managed from yet another separate email account, ideally through a different host than the one used for account registrations. Make it implicitly clear to your personal contacts that mass forwards and other nonsense are not appreciated. Each stranger who gets access to either your personal or registrations-only addresses increases EVERY listed recipient's liability exponentially.

A third separate email account is suggested for online group items such as eDigests and newsletters. Since most groups generally tend to be lax on protection of members' info, including visibility of email addys, expect at least a little spam.

All email accounts should have full message headers enabled. This gives pertinent info such as IP addresses to and from, and other server/handling data. Note: Gmail does NOT have full header display controls! Other email hosts' controls can usually be accessed through one's Account Options section. Check your email provider's Help/FAQ documentation for specific info.

By far, the most effective means of protecting any internet account is through the use of strong passwords. These should be at least eight characters in length and contain both letters and numerals (alpha-numeric). Passwords are CaSe SeNsItIvE and most keyloggers used by one's garden variety script kiddie are usually not sophisticated enough to detect use of the Caps Lock key. When formulating your password, hit the Caps Lock key, enter your desired password, then hit Caps Lock once more to toggle it off again. Once your password is set you will have to use this keying sequence every time you log on. Using the Caps Lock strategy is simple and really doesn't take long to become habit, honest.

Hope these tips help. Need more? Just shout.

Namaste' - Chris / fugi

It still never ceases to amaze me how so many people don't learn from their misadventures. When these gaffes develop into a pattern with no tangible proactive measures implemented on the part of the hapless afflicted, these situations qualify under the new definition of insanity:

insanity - repeating the same dysfunctional behaviors over and over,
yet each time expecting a different positive result

Case in point, a PM recieved from an individual whom I've helped - and attempted to educate - on various internet related personal matters for longer than I probably should have...

"Hi Honey, long time no hear from. I hate to ask you but I desperately need your help. I will even give you my phone number so we don't have to type back and forth. This is kind of urgent because someone is putting mine and [a close relative's] name all over the internet and I need to know the legalities, ramifications and if there is anything we could do about it."

I'm not going to waste my time with lengthy explorations of this individual's systematic self-sabotage. All I will say is that I've developed a mercenary attitude where such pleas are concerned. Want my skills? Fucking pay me. Guess what? Damned few could afford my fees to investigate, let alone clean up what boils down to other's he said/she said bullshit.

One can't seriously expect to consistently invite or perpetuate havoc-rich interactions online without putting themselves and others at risk, now can they? It's time some people got a major reality check. I'll break out my trusty clue-by-four pro bono. Otherwise, take the drama elsewhere.

What blogging site am I?

You are Commie Journal ! You prefer small intimate groups and the company of a few selected others. You do not censor your thoughts and object to those who do. You are your own person, an individualist.

How do you compare? Take this test! | Tests from Testriffic

And people wonder why I went indie on my personal blog! Great quiz, Ms. Spike! It's destined to be a hit. This result has indeed jump started the urge to compose at least one lengthy personal entry, but I'm not quite sure yet whether or not that's a good thing. ;oD

Friends- this quiz is fun! However, those wanting to take it might want to follow these handy registration tips. Enjoy!

Dang- Discussion sure has been lively over at Yahoo 360 Refugees. It seems that someone (who will remain nameless) posted an unverified statement that Yahell is not going to execute its financial flop, 360º. I'll beat this dead horse one last time to put forth the following:

Verify your source.

Rumors, disinformation, and idle speculations are simply those and nothing more. Wait- They are something more. These types of postings are overabundant.

While it's impossible to exterminate such behaviors which breed with parasitic zeal, it is quite simple (and greatly appreciated) to include at least one reference/link to a credible source. Do this consistently and you'll save yourself from becoming just more spamtastic internet flamebait, honest! And if a verified source isn't readily available, please learn to use post tags accordingly. Some good tag examples for unverified information are "rumors", "rumor mill", "gossip", "scuttlebutt", "murmurings", "chatter" and "buzz". Of course, tags can be suited to an individual's liking.

Have fun. Play. Explore. Learn.

Thanks to vivalabama for saving me the trouble of hunting for that Y! 360º blog entry.

For anyone who might want/need to contact me over the next few days, please see the notice in my guestbook, thanks. Now, before last night's pain shot from the ER completely wears off... The following is an exerpt of my reply re: my participation and/or personal interactions here in Cyberia. Word to the wise... Attempting to back-stab me or mine is never a good idea. ;oD

Well, my friends... That's about all the computer time my pain tolerance will allow this morning. Starting to get shooting pains down my legs again, and that ain't the half of it. Looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of knitting this weekend. Gentle {{{hugs}}} for those who want 'em. Ciao for now...