Recently, a retired lady friend (with whom I've kept in contact)  intimated to me that "she was having a bad day", then in a later email said "you are protected, but no more contact".

A couple days later, I attempted to access my yahoo account, and a dialog box popped up saying that "someone was attempting to download from the server; do you want to proceed?"

I x'd out the browser without answering.  This same message appeared two more times, then after about an hour it was back to normal.

Any feedback on how secure these email carriers are?

Barring some super secret scambling program that only the CIA can have access to, anything you put out on the internet can be hacked, spyed in or otherwise used in some way against you.

The only way to be safe is to be totally off line, an increasingly difficult option these days.

Maybe she is subtly trying to tell you something and the dialog box is unrelated or for some reason she has gotten spooked and wants to drop all contact... I too was friends with a provider, she got spooked , retired and dropped all contact with everyone from her providing days... I'd also update antivirus if needed and run a system scan. The dialog box could also be a small piece of spyware.

It depends on the service, and how you, yourself behave.

As someone else pointed out, short of some super encryption program, everything can be accessed.  The thing is, most of these services DON'T HAVE BACKUPS.  That means, if you delete a message from the server, it's gone and probably cannot be retrieved.  

So if you download all your mail off a server to your computer, and delete the messages from the server, you're relatively safe.  If you use a service like yahoo or hotmail and leave the messages on the server, you're probably not.  

In recent years we have been beset by enhanced CALEA requirements for record keeping, laws mandating minimum length of storage for logs, etc. In addition, we are required to have the capability to initiate undetectable surveillance in response to an appropriate warrant OR (because of the Patriot Act) a certain type of letter from the Department of Homeland Security.

We do not typically keep backups of email content; but if you leave it on the server -- it is there. The type of Storage Area Network we use DOES retain an image for 30 days, however, without need for actual backups.

Even without that, the logs we are mandated to retain will allow us to know WHO you sent emails and who sent them to you; as well as identify every website you have visited during that time. Again -- I can identify senders/recipients/sites, but not specific content.

Of course, if a warrant is issued, I initiate undetectable surveillance of ALL of your traffic -- phone calls, emails, web surfing, etc. and that definitely includes all content.

If such a warrant (or other order) is issued, I am disallowed from telling you about the surveillance, of course.

The biggest securuty issue is YOU!  Do you use a completely separate e-mail account?  Do you use your home or (even worse) a work internet access point.  (Just this week I read of some perve, IT found kiddie porn on his assigned work computer...  he was arrested, as he should have been.)  But be aware employees have been fired for viewing adult sites.
The think is the hobby is mainly misdemeanor violations...  such violations (between consenting adults) must be witnessed by a LEO in many jurisdictions.  On the other hand, a felony charge...  the Craigs List Killer comes to mind...  ISPs will of course help mtrack you down.  
Finally, are you sure your Private E-mail is not a derivative of your other addresses?  Separate PW...  and not one that can be "cracked".

I don't see clients having problems with Free E-mail services...  because we're not advertizing.  But Ladies have had their Free accounts shut off for "illegal activities" and they don't get them back.  

That said, it's never wrong to run fresh AV / spyware scans.
skb

most escorts wont answer an email if it contains illegal content.

even if they know you, they don't know who is or will be reading your email.

Hi everyone,

I thought it would be helpful to provide some suggestions to providers and my fellow hobbists.  My career is in IT security so I do work with Fortune 500 companies, government, etc on IT security issues.  This includes busting employees for surfing provider sites, sexual harassment, etc.

Here are some of my suggestions for the gentlemen:

1.  Assume everything on your work computer, network, phone, and email is being tracked.  Therefore, do NOT use your work computer, email, blackberry, iphone, etc for anything.  I know that is probably obvious, but you'd be surprised at what I've found in the past.  Especially on those super convenient smart phones...

2.  Isolate any / all hardware from everyone.  If you can afford your own laptop, pre paid cell or sim card, etc do it.  I have a friend that lost 1/2 of everything in a divorce because of his cell logs...

3.  Use Private Browsing settings on something like the Firefox browser or change IE settings to automatically delete everything after you close the session.  Note: this is essential if you have a significant other or kids that share your computer.

4.  Use gmail, yahoo, or whatever email service.  Do not sync those emails to your outlook, mac, iphone, etc.  Keep those emails those servers and not on your desktop / laptop.

5.  Use strong (hard for people to guess) passwords all the time.  Even when you walk away from your computer for 10 min.  Last thing you want is to forget to 'close' what you were last doing.

For those of you who are like me, and want to keep it on the way DL, here is my situation and what I use:

I have friends and family that hang out in my house and 'want to check something on the web' on my macbook.  I can't throw the laptop out the window and pretend everything is cool...So I use Parallels (or VMWare) to run seperate operating systems complete with strong passwords, hard drive encryption, account access controls, etc.  I only operate this virtual instance (within computer) when I need to 'do my thing.'  Otherwise everyone sees / uses the 'normal' default operating system (the one that comes on first).  

For the providers, I'm not sure there is much you gals can do to keep 'the business' hidden outside of what was written above.  Unfortunately, you ladies take more risk than us guys...Also, I'm not familiar with how providers operate and what tech is used, but feel free to PM me if there is something specific you need to ask.

Happy and safe journeys...