Comcast Email Hacked: Webmail security issues, comcast.net site is back up
It seems the importance of using a very strong password for emails is a must because the hacking of Comcast email service shows security issues. Many users do not understand obviously how important it can be, even though internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast using some of the most advanced email security solutions, wonders never cease to amaze because hackers can and will get through.
I have visited www.comcast.net this morning and it seems the site is down with a message on the homepage saying This Site Is Under Construction and Coming Soon but thankfully it is back up and running again, oops so no chance for you to go to Comcast net sign in to login. We all when going to a service like Comcast and other email providers that they use cutting edge email security appliances, but the whole truth of the matter is that much of the Web’s infrastructure is hacked together legacy equipment. In simple terms it is fair to say users should protect themselves from having their online identity compromised, the bottom line is that users should change their passwords frequently and then maybe this hacking problem may ease a little.
Let me say now that anyone using this service that has had the same password for some time now should really consider changing it, the current problems with Comcast web email security solutions proves that it’s vital for us to protect ourselves with effective online caution. Word of warning for those wanting to change passwords, DO NOT use birthdates, pet names or even family names, USE mixed up letters and numbers even down to using uppercase and lowercase characters. I would recommend you changing passwords once a month to be on the safe side,
You should be changing passwords weekly, but even security freaks don’t do it that often. Once or twice each month is really not sufficient, but it’s a lot better than nothing. It’s a simple email security solution that will help you avoid the problems that Comcast email users are having right now.
www.comcast.net is all up and running again.
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Yeah, I agree. Change your password, make it something cryptic. I wouldn’t even bother with ISP email. If you change ISP’s from year to year like I do, you’ll want something more like gmail….or gmail hosted ( gmail with your own domain ).
What the hell does comcast.net being down have anything to do with their email security? You do realize that the two have nothing to do with each other right? Changing your password every week or two is insanely stupid. It is the equivalent of changing your locks on your door every few weeks. You aren’t actually any safer but it might make you feel good.
It’s not stupid when the DNS servers are being redirected to the hackers site.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20555206-Comcast-hacked~start=220
Most definitely. Your email should stay constant and not associated with your ISP. It’s like the option of a new pair of shoes over changing your social security number. You also don’t get stuck with an oudated domain like sbcglobal.
http://www,gus.fm
What the hell does comcast.net being down have anything to do with their email security?
nothing, other than the attacker stealing the password you’ve used for years from any number of sites you’ve used it at, then figuring out easily you use the same password for everything, including bank and email.
But I invite you to keep the same password for years, you deserve to be congratulated on your unwavering choice in the face of mounting evidence, and you have moved to the front of the ‘most likely to have their identity stolen through easily preventable means’ line. Well played!
http://www.comcast.net is not back up. Right now, if you visit that url, you get “comcast.net search”, a page that looks an awful lot like Google. Many of the links don’t work, and I have found no way to get to the comcast.net I was using yesterday. I don’t think they were hacked - I think something is going on internally.
Maybe someone was supposed to load the new search engine to http://www.comcast.net/search, and accidentally uploaded it to http://www.comcast.net, and is now getting a major ass chewing…
certaindoom - exactly my point. Just because you changed your password last week and mine may be 2 years old, the hacker would have an equal chance at getting both of ours. Your new one is no more secure than my old one. Don’t kid yourself.
And no I dont use the same password for multiple sites. I use unique, strong passwords for every site I am registered at. You can pretend you are more secure because you waste your time changing yours every week but you remain just as vulnerable as me.
Email doesn’t have any of the attributes that you’d actually like. It was built in 1982 and hasn’t changed at all since then. It will take something other than SMTP to jump the curve an create something that’s more than text messaging insecurely on the web.
Point of disclosure I forgot above: I’m the Experience Czar for Sendside Networks.
It’s not stupid when the DNS servers are being redirected to the hackers site.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20555206-Comcast-hacked~start=220
Charlie from Comcast here — last night users attempting to access Comcast.net were temporarily redirected to another site by an unauthorized person. While that issue has been resolved and customers have continued to have access to the Internet and email through services like Outlook, some customers are currently not able to access Comcast.net or Webmail. We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers, and network engineers are working to resolve the issue.
We believe that our registration information at the vendor that registers the Comcast.net domain address was altered, which redirected the site, and is the root cause of today’s continued issues as well. We have alerted law enforcement authorities and are working in conjunction with them.
I think some of you are missing the point. Strong passwords are a little harder to crack than weak passwords. Its like putting a fence around your yard. It makes it slightly harder for someone to enter your yard, but if they really want into your yard, they will eventually get in.
If your password has NOT been compromised, changing it on any interval doesn’t make you much safer. However, there is some inherent safety in the fact that you aren’t broadcasting the same password string over the internet for an extended period of time. I equate it to having the same red car drive by your house every day. You may not notice it for a while, but eventually you will realize it is the same car. If the car changes color every month, you are much less likely to notice it or at the very least it will take you longer to notice it. On the other hand, if your password HAS been compromised, changing it means the hacker has to start over again to get back in. Even if it buys me only a little additional safety, it seems like it would be worth the effort to me.
As an additional side note, I can get into Comcast.net, but the main homepage consists only of text and hyperlinks without any graphics or flash. It will also occasionally start to spawn new comcast.net browser tabs over and over again and won’t let me shut down my browser. Since different areas are seeing different results and strange things are happening, there is obviously more going on than the simple hack Comcast is claiming.
boy you sure know a lot. you should write a security book.
your 2 years old password is artifacted all over the place, in caches, in db’s on the server, on your desktop. it just widens the attack footprint the longer it stays the same.
the comcast yesterday attack, sure. equal exposure whether it was changed yesterday or last week, to 2 years ago.
but dont kid yourself, your passwords stored everywhere you’ve logged into using it, any number of those back-end db’s could be exported without your (or the sites) knowledge, and you give them 2 years of history to work with, rather than a week.
relevant to comcast incident of 2 days ago, not much, relevant to 99% of best practices in security, idk, maybe.
ok, all of you seem pretty smart so here’s one for you. My boyfriends email (Comcast)stopped working almost two weeks ago, he is a secondary user on my comcast account. The error message you get when trying to send him email is “the email account does not exist at the organization this message was sent to, however he can send from this account. Yes, his account is active and the other two secondary accounts work just fine all of the secondary account setting are exactly the same. Comcast still doesn’t know what the problem is. I’m thinking that maybe Comcast was hacked earlier that they think but I don’t know if one has anything to do with the other. Thoughts? if this is a stupid question then I apologize I’m just at the end of my rope with those idiots at Comcast.
Here it is now July 14 and I still have big problems with COMCAST. My connection has been slow since about end of May. In the past week when I try to access any COMCAST site, I get a msg stating that COMCAST is a fraudulent site. This msg says ATT is not responsible? Comcast is my carrier. If I click continue I am sent to a COMCAST ad or game sites. If I hit cancel to stay on this page, I get an error msg sending problem to microsoft. When I contacted my local COMCAST, I was told it is a spyware and I must take my computer to a shop to have it fixed.
McAlfee and anothr spyware program detect no spyware. When I changed my home page to Google, it comes right up and I get no boxes. COMCAST was scheduled to send a technician to my house last Sat. but it is now Monday afternoon and no calls and no service man. When I called, COMCAST claimed they called my numbr 3 times with no answer. We have been home the entire time and they did not call or come. I think it is a stall tactic as they don’t know how to fix the problem. Anybody else having this problem?
Well after being gone all summer I hae finally waded through all my snail mail and started on my e-mail. I have tried for the past 2 hours to access my webmail account to clean it up and purge old messages but get the weirdest flickering on my lap-top, with the progress bar repeting that it’s loading the page but nothing ever comes up…. thought that mybe my lovley Mac is having hickups so I shut it down, removed the battery for some time to see if that was the problem I let it rest a bit and went into the office to turn on the big “bad” iMac to work it out from there but I’ll be d@*%md if I still didn’t have a problem….so here I am, looking to see if there is anyone else with this dilemma? According to what I read alot of people seem to have a problem with Comcast/service/access etc. anyone with a solution? I don’t know if calling even is worth it since all of you seem to have gone nowhere?
I’m in email hell with Comcast right now. For the past two weeks I never know if my sent email is getting to where it’s sent. It leaves but does not arrive. I’ve spent hours on the phone to Comcast with no answers. Some emails arrive some do not. I can’t believe I’m the only one experiencing this.
I had issues in May and changed passwords immediately. I still have email issues today and can’t get anyone at Comcast to correct them, though they did try once each. I started receiving double emails along then and some emails I send won’t go.