I received a call from a childhood friend recently who stated that their AOL account had been compromised and that everyone in their contact received a spam email.
I know many people who still have legacy email accounts like this. It is usually either because the account was opened under another name when they were younger, and they can’t delete it, or they are concerned that something may require an email to be sent to that account for verification purposes.
I advocate for changing all passwords every 6 months or less. But what if you neglect an old account. How can you keep yourself safe from having a spam email sent out from your account?
The solution is easy, delete your contacts and old mail from your old account. This way should the account be compromised, there is no data for the perpetrator to obtain.
If you would like to save your contacts to a file before removing them, you can export them to a list for use if you should ever want to look up an old email address. An example is shown in the two images below where you can select all your contacts and export them to a file.
This will allow you to maintain access to the old email account while not worrying about the account being compromised.
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Disclaimer: The above information is not intended as technical advice. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained herein. Seek the advice of an IT Professional before acting or relying on any information in this communiqué
