Right here we are again. If security concerns you follow this advice
1/ Set up as many email accounts as you can.
2/ Use each email account for different purposes
3/ Have one main account for things like your Antivirus registration and other things that you do not use often
4/ Make sure you do not use a name.A name identifies you to spammers, John Smith is a target for Viagra and porn,
Joan Smith is a target for jewellery, makeup, clothes etc. Spam is often targeted.
5/ Think up an email address like openmind, likewise, thingo, or something and add some numbers before or after it.
6/ Ensure you have a different password for each address, it is fatal to use the same one and this is what most people do
7/ A keylogger can pick up every click of your keyboard and record your log in and other securiy details.
8/ To log in use a programme like ROBOFORM which will generate passwords for you and fill in log in forms by a simple click of the
mouse.
9/ Out of the email accounts you have set up select one for your normal day to day traffic.
When the spammers get hold of this and become a nuisance, ditch it. Notify your friends
that your email has changed to one of the others that you have set up and get a reply wanted response.
Once everyone knows your new address delete the old offending address and set up another new one for later use.
10/ Do not subscribe to newsletters or other junk, most of what you will get is worthless anyway and these constant mailings
will alert spammers to your active account.
11/ Once a spammer has got hold of your email address it will go around the spamming fraternity like wildfire and you will get
bombarded.
12/ Do not feel secure or safe because you have an antispam programme, they are not perfect and something will always get
through especially if it does not contain any of the terms/words looked for in antispam programmes.
13/ Deleting spam is a pain in the a..e so why have to do it.
14/ If you wish to subscribe to forums like this do not use your real emails address, use another.
You can sign up to a pay as you go dial Isp, set up an email address, opt to set up your account manually and then delete the
dial up settings.
15/ Use Outlook Express to scan for your email and it will also scan the address set up with the other ISP
16/ Another tip. If you use Internet Explorer go to tools-manage add ons-find more add ons and search for temporary inbox
If you use Firefox go to tools-add ons-get extensions and search for temporary inbox.
This are programmes that wil provide you with a temporary email address for about six hours and can be used
to sign up to sites where you do not want any come backs.
17/ Never ever open attachments in emails from people you do not know, beware the scam email supossedly coming from your bank
if in doubt get in touch with thtem to see if they sent it.
18/ Never ever click on pop up links that appear on your destop, or in your taskbar. The only pop ups you should get in your taskbar
are from your antivirus, antispyware providers to show that they have installed an update.
If you get stuff from things like acrobat or quicktime ignore it and go to the site to see if there is some update or other
information.

Long one I know but hope it helps.

Right lets see if we can help.
First Mcafee identified ptoblems with talktalk.net with their site advisor programme see http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/talktalk.net
This issue was not resolved when taken up with the customer service broadband advisors who did not understand or investigate it.

This matter finally managed to reach Charles Dunstone at Carphone Warehouse, who immediately had an investigation undertaken
and liason was made with Mcafee.

The outcome is a little convoluted. Talktalk.co.uk is the site for talktalk..........talktalk.net is the broadband service provided by talktalk.co.uk
and is not a direct web page. To get to it you have to open the talktalk.co.uk web page and then log on to talktalk.net.
Anyone who does not subscribe cannot get in.
Talktalk.net is the logon programme to get you on to the internet as well. Hope that much is clear.

Mcafee show two entries for talktalk....one is for talktalk.co.uk which is given an all clear green light , the other is for talktalk.net which is given a RED warning light.

The tests carried out by Mcafee showed the problems highlighted.
The investigations by Mcafee requested by talktalk showed that what had happened was that subscribers to talktalk with a broadband connection and email addresses were using the web space provided to them to host sites and links to porn sites.
This is what Mcafee picked up and why they showed a warning light.
These web spaces should have been behind the email, web services security and not exposed by Mcafee. Perhaps the poster had weak passwords or something.
Hope that much is clear

Mcafee have agreed that this scanning should not have detected this type of traffic and are in the process of amending their programme.

Mcafee have also agreed that the site talktalk.net itself IS SAFE and that users need not have any concerns.
Why any nutter would want to put links to porn sites on their web space is beyond me.

No doubt in due course when Mcafee have ammended their programme this will then give a green light to talktalk.net, or that talktalk.net is removed altogether as it is not a web page.

If this matter had not been pursued then this problem/error would not have come to light, and people would have been justified in their concerns about security.

Hope that helps, any further questions please ask.

One further comment, unless the other people you talk to are security experts then you cannot rely on what they tell you.
The security and antivirus companies that you subscribe to are the experts, rely on what they say.
They may sometimes get it wrong as in this instance, but until that can be established take their word for it, not a mates.

This has now got long so I will post some more help for you later.
TTFN

Dear peradua

First I did not sit on my hands.

Second this site strikes me as odd and difficult to navigate and I couldn't find anything of value on talktalk using various search methods. I have struggled through other information you have provided and been given the distinct impression by those that know better than me that talktalk is quite sound on security and in any case any problem would only impact on the talktalk site something you acknowledged in a reply to me. All I do with talktalk is pay by DD and if that went haywire the system would stand by the DD promise.

Regards

Fedora

For those interested in the security issues raised go to

Vnunet.com talktalk feedback.

Find posting 19th January by Cocteau48 talktalkemail/deja vu

Scroll to bottom and you have answers to the security issue