hacked emails and the law

vyle

OP, you seem confused as to how somebody's emails can be accessed from a different computer.

It's because emails are stored on the internet before they're retrieved to a computer. If your friend uses hotmail, or something similar, she's simply accessing them on the web, the same as one accesses one's facebook news feed. If she uses outlook or similar, all that's doing is accessing the emails and storing them on the computer.

mj12_2

Let her email service provider know its happening as well - if he has a static IP they might block access to her account from it for you.

Hammyman

USM wrote: »

There is no 'program' which does this.

Yes there is...you just can't get them from download.com or Tucows but they do exist.

What do you think the term script kiddie means?

alleycat`

Equally the person in question could just have something like vnc or remote desktop installed on the ex's PC and be watching what she opens / looks at.

They could just be watching what she is doing remotely - no need to "hack" anything :-)

However, the most likely scenario is one of

* "mail forwarder" setup on the account
* her security questions are so obvious they can social engineer a password reminder.
* limited re-use of the same passwords that the ex is privy to.

I suppose a long shot is the ex knows someone who works at the mail provider/ISP who is quite happy to help out in these matters (which i wouldn't expect, but is possible).

jaydeeuk1

williamD1964 wrote: »

jaydeeuk, being a bit simple can you explain the process? she like me is not too bright regrading the process

Who does she use for email? And if she uses outlook, who is the actual email provider?

Dave_C_2

Original post : My emphasis

williamD1964 wrote: »

where does someone stand legally, if their emails have been hacked? Is it possible to hack an email from a separate PC? Is there a program that is capable of this.
Cheers

My reply:

Hacking email is illegal under the computer misuse act and RIPA.
You should not be asking how to do it on this forum.

Follow up from OP:

I am not asking how its done, but how to stop it happening you numpty

This was a simple misunderstanding , the way I read your the original post sounded like you were asking how to do it. There was no mention of how to stop it happening!

As to prevention:
1) Don't use webmail, use Thunderbird or Outlook, making sure the option is set to Don't leave messages on the server. This should prevent the email being on an internet server once it is read.
2) Use a secure password and don't tell anyone
3) If you are really concerned use encryption

Dave

jayme1

if she uses gmail set up 2-step verification, check that there are no forwarding addresses set up in settings.

your email is now unhackable. even if someone knows the username and password.