Email security?

Donna, everthing you can access online someone else theoretically could access, too. Personally I wouldn't put the full credit card detail in an email but leave out e.g. 4 digits and the expiry date and keep just that missing information with me somewhere else. That way neither an undwanted finder of that piece of paper nor an email hacker can benefit from the information.

Thanks, Andreas. That was my thinking also.

Hi Donna,
When I booked my B&B's for Italy, I sent the card information in two emails. I first sent the B&B to let them know I was doing that. In fact, several B&B's suggested doing it that way. Happy travels.

As I have previously posted computer and internet security is not well understood by the average user -- too many myths. There are two major aspects of internet security. The sending of information and the receiving or storage of that information. By design the internet is extremely secure for the transmission of date from point to point. For all practical purposes the data cannot be intercepted. However, once the data arrrives and is reassembled on someone's computer (or server) it becomes a new ball game. At that point you are dependant on whatever security is being provided by the end user. The only security gain by spliting a transmission is that it is slight harder for the end user to put it together. In my opinion the security gain from a two part transmission is so minor as to be not worth the time and effort.

--- to be continued--

Part II

To answer Donna's question directly --- there are no security concerns for putting information in an e-mail to yourself because all major email providers have secure servers. However, if you access that e-mail from a public terminal (Internet Cafe, etc.) all security protocols are gone. It is now an open book. By using various spyware programs that public terminal could have total access forever to your e-mail account. For that reason, we a used dedicated e-mail just for that single purpose -- We post all credit/debit card information including front and back numbers, telephone numbers, etc. so we can get access in an emergency. BUT, and a very big BUT -- all of the critical numbers are posted in a simple but every effective alpha/numeric code. (Contact me directly for a better explanation, not enough room here.) For even the above average thief the codes are unbreakable and if the e-mail accuont is compromised, no damage is done and the address is abandoned.

Miss B, I did the same thing....sent partial # in one email and the rest of the # in another email.

Just to add to what Frank said about email security, the chances of your email being intercepted over the internet are literally astronomical. You have a better chance of winning the lottery jackpot then anything bad happening in this manner. All Credit Card fraud comes from the person at the far end who handles the actual transaction; they will write down your credit card numbers and sell that data to criminal organizations. The crime is very low-tech. Thus, whether you use email, fax or the telephone, the risk is exactly the same. Splitting you CC numbers in seperate emails is pointless IMO.

Your email is as secure as a private letter and more so because no one can steam it open and read it along the way, It definately is not a post card in a post office. That is a myth ! The only threat to your e-mail is if you access it from a public terminal where someone has installed spyware to capture your e-mail address, pass words, etc. Your email is still secure from anyone else but you have opened to the door for the skyware owner and what he or she does with it may cause a lot of problem. There are solutions to this problem but it is complicated, There are program that provide sequencing or rotating passwords but few people use them.

I don't know maybe I'm just can't really get my head around all this high tech stuff but I generally err on the side of caution. Maybe your emails might be 100% secure but if you are at all concerned take precautionary measures. That way youu at least have peace of mind.