The Business Blog at Intuitive.com

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since 1980 and is recognized globally as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. He's a columnist for the Boulder Daily Camera and Linux Journal and frequently appears in other publications both online and in print. Additionally, Dave maintains four weblogs: The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, Ask Dave Taylor, Dave On Film, and GoFahterhood. Based in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs, as well as active member of his community and busy single father to three children.

And tonight, someone is apparently trying to hack my Gmail account

I have to wonder what's going on when all of a sudden I'm receiving password reminder email messages from Gmail but I haven't forgotten my password. To give them lots of credit, though, Gmail doesn't actually email a password, it does this...

To initiate the process for resetting the password for your d1taylor@gmail.com Google Account, visit the link below http://www.google.com/accounts/RP?c=66951340270 Thank you for using Google. For questions or concerns regarding your account, please send mail to accounts-support@google.com.
This is a post-only mailing. Replies to this message are not monitored or answered.

Nifty. Congrats, again, Gmail, on really thinking through these issues. it's the most elegant solution to restoring passwords I've seen yet.

Gmail might be getting some points off for privacy in the California legislature with a recent misguided piece of legislation, but they do get lots of points with me for elegant and thoughtful software design and implementation. Now you chaps just need to get complete support for Safari.. :-)

Posted by Dave Taylor at May 29, 2004 12:33 AM

Comments

If I understand correctly the url you pasted above would allow anybody to change Gmail account passwords (in this case your password). Were you being sarcastic or am I missing something?

Great shell script book BTW, I may have to buy this ;-)

Also the sum you have to solve to post comments doesn't appear to accept answers in anything other than base 10, what's up with that?

Posted by: huh on May 29, 2004 2:47 PM

Ah, do you *really* think I haven't tweaked the URL slightly so that it wouldn't work? :-)

Uh, the non-base-10 stuff, well, I'll work on it, I guess. But most people don't seem to like base-e numbering...

Posted by: Dave Taylor on May 29, 2004 7:15 PM

That link is valid. Someone can change your password.......thats stupid.

Posted by: TOM on July 4, 2004 4:53 PM

Alright then. Change my password.

Posted by: Dave Taylor on July 4, 2004 9:42 PM

it's funny, i've had the same thing happen with my gmail account too. and it's a bit silly, because they'd have to know your security question and answer, right?

Posted by: bushra on August 2, 2004 2:27 AM

Yeah, seems a bit daft to me, I agree. But nowadays little hacker kids (aka skript kiddies) seem to like taking potshots at everything they encounter. I even occasionally have rejected requests for me to unsubscribe from my own mailing lists too. But Gmail seems to have cooled down a bit since it's so easy to get accounts now.

Posted by: Dave Taylor on August 4, 2004 10:45 PM

Its possibly because someone has launched software for brute force attacks... Full story:
http://www.bonar.co.uk/bonarmedia/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=13

Posted by: Max on August 7, 2004 7:22 PM

I u can do it i will do whatever u ask!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Ajith on April 17, 2005 12:14 PM

i am in desperate need of resetting the following gmail account: al99rios@gmail.com please

Posted by: John Hood on June 18, 2005 7:02 AM

forgot password

Posted by: jeyendran on September 3, 2005 11:48 AM

change my password plz help me as another person came to know my password. so i request u to help me in this case

Posted by: nirmala on February 4, 2006 6:52 AM

I can't do that for you. You need to go to the Gmail site and do that yourself. I'd do it *now* if you're worried about it...

Posted by: Dave Taylor on February 4, 2006 10:04 AM

how can someone hack a gmail account???

Posted by: random on February 21, 2007 3:58 PM

i've been keep getting more spam mail then normally but there all like in japanese text or in like in some jibberish text, so i'm thinking someone is trying to send me a virus or something. i want to copy the text and then change the font to english so maybe i could read it but im abit neverous that i might open it accidently.

any suggestions?

-jessica

Posted by: francis on May 2, 2007 6:48 AM

Is there someone who can let me know what my password is? u can send me the reset password to my seconday email..: kanchan.kottu@gmail.com

Posted by: koolkanchi on May 30, 2007 2:27 AM

Hi, how can someone hack a gmail account? Can you help me?

Posted by: Ebru on October 25, 2007 2:24 AM

hi
some one hacked my system. i am unable to open my orkut,youtube.
its saying that adminstrator had banned u r orkut site.

Posted by: ranjith on November 20, 2007 9:44 AM

sir my all password has been hacked by some hacker i want all that id back he hacked my yahoo, rediffmail and gmail account and changed my personal information and alternate email adress so how can i get back can u please do some help for me

Posted by: sajid on December 30, 2007 4:39 AM

Sir,
My gmail account has been hacked...Any way to retrieve my account...Its really important for me.Can u plz help me..

Posted by: vinay on January 7, 2008 11:27 PM

Somebody has hacked (same)passwords of my rediff IDs. If anybody can help me to get it back please, i need those ids back. Please if any body can help.

Posted by: pinky on November 24, 2008 3:29 PM

i want to know the password of my email parichitk@gmail.com plz help its misusing by someone

Posted by: subhi on February 20, 2009 9:15 PM

somone hacked my Id and changed security question..I have some important and urgent data in that id.pls tell how can I recover my password

Posted by: Naincy on May 9, 2009 11:34 PM

hack my google account

Posted by: madhes on November 12, 2009 5:13 AM

I know for sure that my Gmail is compromised. But at the same time, unable to understand how? There is a security question, security answer, a time log in Gmail detailing upto last 5 logs.
Do you think it is that easy to just hack into anyone's gmail?

Posted by: vaishnavi on March 27, 2010 1:33 PM

my gmail account is hacked, i cannot recover it, so i want to deactivate my account, my alternative email id is chiranjib.6100@gmail.com. please help me.

Posted by: chiranjib on October 19, 2010 5:18 AM

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