Widespread Email Compromise at Yahoo/Xtra

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4 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 762628 14-Feb-2013 20:40

Hello nickb800,

"My password is accepted at every other Telecom/Xtra/Yahoo login but the password changer"

Did you use any capital letters when you created your email account?
(Ex: Name@xtra.co.nz).

My understanding is that if you do so, an additional username is created
without any capital letters.
(Ex: name@xtra.co.nz).

You can use both to log on to your email account, but you can only use the original username
you created with capital letters when you want to change your password.

Best Regards
Göran Persson

tdgeek

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Reply # 762637 14-Feb-2013 20:51

Re caps.

If you login using an email address, i,e, smartphone app or webmail, it is not case sensitive

If you use POP which requires the username, or the password changer, you use the username (without the @xtra.co.nz) and it is caps sensitive

Hope that helps

tdgeek

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Reply # 762640 14-Feb-2013 20:54

Goran: Hello nickb800,

Did you use any capital letters when you created your email account?
(Ex: Name@xtra.co.nz).

My understanding is that if you do so, an additional username is created
without any capital letters.
(Ex: name@xtra.co.nz).

Not correct. No extra non caps usernames are created.

If yours was for example GoranP

Username for POP settings or password changer is GoranP
Email address if required for webmail is goranp@xtra.co.nz

Skolink

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Reply # 762656 14-Feb-2013 21:34

I just help the neighbour change her password. There is a problem with the password change page.

It states "password must be between 6 and 32 characters" however it will not accept abcdefgh12 (10 characters), but will accept abcdefg12 (9 characters). This isn't the actual password , but the letter omitted is an s on the end of the letters.

nickb800

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Reply # 762700 15-Feb-2013 00:51

Sorted it in the end but took a password reset, as suggested by Peter (thanks!).

It appears that the 'Your Telecom' password is different to my Yahoo Mail password, which seems bloody stupid given that I reset (and set a new password) via the Telecom password changer

Bung

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Reply # 763364 16-Feb-2013 10:38

Since this all hit the fan I've noticed that no spam at all has been diverted to my spam folder. My preference is still shown as clear monthly. If Yahoo are just binning everything immediately this could be a problem for people used to retrieving the occasional non spam message.

Skolink

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Reply # 763471 16-Feb-2013 16:55

Just been over to the neighbour's house again. The only way I could get Gmail to check the Xtra email account via pop was to set the login name to Name@xtra.co.nz despite previously successfully testing it with NAME (and the new password).

freitasm

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Reply # 763550 16-Feb-2013 19:35

Another update received just now:

Telecom has tonight begun cancelling the current passwords of around 60,000 Yahoo! Xtra email accounts it believes to have been compromised following a cyber attack last weekend.

These additional 60,000 customers, on top of the existing 15,000 that Telecom has been contacting over the past few days, will now be required to enter new password information when logging into their email account.

The move by Telecom is aimed at protecting its email customers and preventing information contained within their emails being accessed although to date there is no confirmed evidence, by Yahoo!, that this has occurred.

Telecom CEO Retail Chris Quin says 60,000 of the 450,000 Yahoo! Xtra customers have changed their password since last weekend but updated details on compromised accounts means the best way to protect customers is to cancel the current passwords of these additional 60,000 accounts.

“We’re taking this matter very seriously,” says Mr Quin, “and urge those whose passwords have been cancelled to create new passwords. However, it’s advisable for all others that have not changed their password, to do so immediately both on their computer but also on mobile devices and tablets. We continue to be sorry for any distress caused or inconvenience this has caused and reinforce that in today’s online world regular password changes are an important need.”

Telecom Yahoo! Xtra customers are encouraged to visit Telecom’s website, www.telecom.co.nz, as well as Yahoo! NZ’s, for updates regarding this issue.

Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure)

greven

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Geek
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Reply # 763685 17-Feb-2013 10:25

Telecom posted a Facebook message asking everyone to change their password & used a bit.ly link to their password reset page. Do they really want to teach their customers that giving your password to a site you are directed to via a URL shortening service is OK?

Schmylie

1 post

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 763699 17-Feb-2013 10:45

My mum brought her laptop over this weekend due to this reason.

I've setup a vacation reply and auto forward to her gmail email account, because lets face it ... it's superior in everyway.

Just noticed that any email I was sending to her wasn't coming through, I checked out her "blocked addresses" under "mail options" and found that gmail.com was one of the 500 blocked. I've never added anything to her blocked email, and neither has she.

Might be worth everyone doubling checking that something useful hasn't been blocked here.

freitasm

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Reply # 763760 17-Feb-2013 13:54

Received this today:

Telecom is asking Yahoo! Xtra customers to please be patient when contacting its customer service team with call volumes extraordinarily high.

Last night Telecom temporarily cancelled the current passwords of around 60,000 Yahoo! Xtra email customers in a bid to protect them from having their emails accessed following a cyber attack which began last Saturday (9^th February).

Telecom has added additional customer service resourcing to assist customers with queries but call volumes have been increasing significantly over the past 12 hours along with wait times.

Telecom’s GM Customer Experience, Trish Keith says call centre staff across the country, and in Manila, are doing their best to assist as many customers with password change queries, as quickly as possible.

“Our staff are doing their very best to get to calls as quickly as possible but the volume is significantly high. The quickest and easiest way for customers to take corrective action themselves is by going online and changing their password on both their computers and mobile devices.

“We’re asking customers that do need to call us, to be please be patient given the magnitude of this issue and the resulting high call volume. We’re hugely sorry for the inconvenience this situation is causing our customers and trying our best to assist them both through our call centres but also through email information and social media.”

Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure)

plambrechtsen

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Reply # 763766 17-Feb-2013 13:59

freitasm: Received this today:

Telecom is asking Yahoo! Xtra customers to please be patient when contacting its customer service team with call volumes extraordinarily high.

What didn't make it in was the vast majority of customers have successfully reset their passwords online via www.telecom.co.nz/changepassword

Again not trying to include any links on emails as to be clear about anything that does include a link is spam.

But the vast majority of folks have been doing it online without any issue.

pegi

35 posts

Geek

Reply # 764090 18-Feb-2013 11:53

I've got another issue.
Every morning when I turn my computer and Outlook on, message comes up that the Outlook can't connect to Xtra email server and it's suggesting to check my PW.
But I noticed the other day that when I go to my yahoo/xtra webmail account and use the same password (that is not working in Outlook) I can log in and see all my emails.
When I click on Send/Receive Emails button in my Outlook after I logged in my webmail I can download my emails and everything works fine until I turn my computer off and turn it back on next morning. I have to do it all over again.
I changed my password after the Saturday issue week ago.

Does anyone has an idea what can cause that?

Thanks

plambrechtsen

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Reply # 764110 18-Feb-2013 12:25

pegi: I've got another issue.
Every morning when I turn my computer and Outlook on, message comes up that the Outlook can't connect to Xtra email server and it's suggesting to check my PW.
But I noticed the other day that when I go to my yahoo/xtra webmail account and use the same password (that is not working in Outlook) I can log in and see all my emails.
When I click on Send/Receive Emails button in my Outlook after I logged in my webmail I can download my emails and everything works fine until I turn my computer off and turn it back on next morning. I have to do it all over again.
I changed my password after the Saturday issue week ago.

Does anyone has an idea what can cause that?

Thanks

Normally it should only happen once.

After you change your password via the changepassword URL, then you need to update your Outlook Password... Then you need to login to WebMail and make sure you complete any Captcha request on the Yahoo Web Site when accessing Yahoo Web Mail via http://nz.mail.yahoo.com and then you're away. The Captcha login should look like:

And if you don't get a code you can read, click "Try a new code" and you should be able to login, or click "Audio Code" and it should play through your computer.. However I have found that is really hard to understand the crazy voice. But that's just me :)

pegi

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Geek

Reply # 764124 18-Feb-2013 12:44

plambrechtsen:
pegi: I've got another issue.
Every morning when I turn my computer and Outlook on, message comes up that the Outlook can't connect to Xtra email server and it's suggesting to check my PW.
But I noticed the other day that when I go to my yahoo/xtra webmail account and use the same password (that is not working in Outlook) I can log in and see all my emails.
When I click on Send/Receive Emails button in my Outlook after I logged in my webmail I can download my emails and everything works fine until I turn my computer off and turn it back on next morning. I have to do it all over again.
I changed my password after the Saturday issue week ago.

Does anyone has an idea what can cause that?

Thanks

Normally it should only happen once.

After you change your password via the changepassword URL, then you need to update your Outlook Password... Then you need to login to WebMail and make sure you complete any Captcha request on the Yahoo Web Site when accessing Yahoo Web Mail via http://nz.mail.yahoo.com and then you're away. The Captcha login should look like:

And if you don't get a code you can read, click "Try a new code" and you should be able to login, or click "Audio Code" and it should play through your computer.. However I have found that is really hard to understand the crazy voice. But that's just me :)

I've done all that but the message keeps popping up. I will keep an eye on it... :-)

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