ISP Closes Webmail After Spammers Get Addresses

An anonymous reader writes "Error prone British ISP PlusNet, who you might remember for accidentally deleting 700GB of customer's e-mail last year, have done it again with a major security gaffe. Their webmail service was compromised this week, and spammers got hold of customers' e-mail addresses who they've been happily spamming away ever since. They've since made the decision to close their webmail service, in the ultimate admission of incompetence for the now BT owned ISP. In an e-mail to their customers, Network director Phil Webb goes on to recommend that their customers install security software, along with telling them that they shouldn't call up to complain. One might suggest that they need to practice what they preach."

Comments

They sent an email to their customers?!

[Rik Sweeney]

Their webmail service was compromised this week, and spammers got hold of customers' e-mail addresses who they've been happily spamming away ever since. They've since made the decision to close their webmail service, in the ultimate admission of incompetence for the now BT owned ISP. In an e-mail to their customers...

It's unlikely they'll actually be able to read this email given the fact that they're now drowning in spam...

Lost emails

[SuperGT]

I always worry about this. I use my gmail account as a sort of backup, just in case my laptop decides to fail. And I also keep loads of emails there with important information I may need later. I treat it as my safety net, but what if this was to happen? I understand that google and this ISP are probably years apart (as far as security and technology), but it still makes you wonder. Now I feel like making a backup on a thumbdrive, saving it on a dvd-r, etc.