Google Mail Passwords Exposed by "G-Archiver"
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Just in case you've been in a cave (virtual or otherwise) and like me haven't heard about this until now, anybody using "G-Archinver" is advised to change their GMail passwords immediately. Apparently this thing has been collecting login information and sending it to one of the program's developers.
According to the "G-Archiver" site, what happened was not malicious in any way, just that a developer forgot to take out some testing code before building the release version.
I'm not a GMail user and I've never used "G-Archiver" but I'd say that this would be a good time to consider an alternate way of doing things if possible. Besides, Isn't GMail supposed to do that context advertising thing where somebody writing to you about weight loss could get you ads for the world's best diet pills?
My advice? If you've got to use GMail at all, then I strongly recommend getting Thunderbird portable, it's enigmail plugin and GnuPG. Then make sure that all of your mail is encrypted and use Thunderbird portable to download your GMail using POP3. I know it's tempting to use the webmail thingy but with flash drives getting so cheap these days (hey, even *I* have one!), there's no reason to not carry a portable email program & encryption keys on a flash drive. That way you avoid the advertising in GMail and maximize your privacy all at the same time.
Technorati Tags: change+password, g+archiver, garchiver, gmail, google, google+mail, passwords, thunderbird+portable, gnupg, privacy
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Grr. I will be changing my password now. Thanks for the heads up.
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Good suggestion. This is the second time this week that someone has recommended Thunderbird. I will have to check it out. Thanks.
The whole privacy/information issue on the web has a ways to go.
I have been using Thunderbird at home and at work for some time now, but did not know you could set it up on a thumb drive. That is too cool, I hate using web based email from public computers.