Marck D Pearlstone, [MDP] wrote: MDP> Anyway, this is all about opinion. Yours is that the archives are MDP> not safe from harvesters. Mine is the opposite. That they are MDP> completely safe and will remain so. Also, as a list administrator MDP> I have a duty to reassure other readers that there is no need to MDP> panic. Because there is no need.
To add to Marck's comments: You know, after reading all the threads in PGP lists about security etc., it always boils down to the fact that the only real security from prying eyes from the Internet is an unplugged PC. Of course, this isn't practical and we do have to be practical. It's one thing to discuss possibilities since it's always possible to breach one's security unless there's really nothing to secure. IOW's if you don't take part in these lists, then you don't have to worry about your e-mail address falling into the hands of spammers from posting messages here. I hope we realize that our addresses still are not safe from spammers if we don't have our messages archived. In fact, I think it's easier to get the addresses without using the archives. Simply subscribe to the lists for a few months and then harvest the addresses from what you have. So remember that there's also real world experience in that, though something may be possible, it's just not done because there are easier ways of achieving the same goal. If one's goal is to get addresses for mass spamming, then getting them out of these archives and off Gmane just isn't worth the trouble. Easier ways exist for obtaining addresses to spam. I really don't see the point in bringing up all this concern about Gmane and the archives imperfections when it's not a real world concern for the foreseeable future. We're adding a new source of reading, NNTP, for our members who wish to use it. Currently, it's more secure than what we already have in place. For the life of me, I can't understand this hype when what was already in place was less secure all this time. Even though it's less secure, it's been shown through real world testing, to be secure enough. 'Secure enough' is what counts here since we can never run these lists and expect to absolutely secure the members e-mail addresses. Is Gmane secure *enough*? ... Yes!! Are the Mail archives secure *enough*? This would certainly seem to be the case since I haven't received any spam from my list only address and this seems to be the case for many others who have been happy posting here over the years. Is the list secure *enough* without archiving? .... Yes!!! Again, please note that without archiving, your address still isn't secure. If you wish to absolutely secure your address, just don't use it, and my next question would be, why have it then? In fact, it would seem that the way to really secure the address would be not to have it in the first place since I've heard of people receiving spam for addresses they haven't used. :) -- -=[ Allie ]=- (List Moderator and fellow end-user) PGPKeys: http://key.ac-martin.com Running The Bat! v2.04.7 on WinXP Pro (SP1)
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