Hotmail Security

I have heard a lot of people say that Hotmail's security is like 'swiss cheese.' Some of the contacts that I have who have Hotmail have had their accounts hacked and the hacker(s) have sent out emails with a link in the message.

So, is it true that Hotmail's security is weak?

codyw said:

...So, is it true that Hotmail's security is weak?

Lots of people have web-based email accounts with Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail since they are free and usable from any browser without having to set up an email program on a PC. Because their email address is more or less "public", the only thing required for someone to "hack" your account is to guess your password. I've heard of someone who used the password "123456" for his professional law office email for many years until one day he couldn't get in to it anymore. Yahoo was no help. So all he could do is set up a new email account with a less guessable password.

Hotmail does offer the option to use "HTTPS" instead of "HTTP" when going to Hotmail. That means that someone using special hacking software on a shared wi-fi network won't be able to see your information as it travels between your PC and an "unsecured" wi-fi access point. It won't protect against guessing your password if it's too common. Some people use "Lastpass" on their device to make it convenient to use complex passwords without having to remember multiple complex passwords for different logins.

Thanks for all the replies. I examined Hotmail's functionality and do like how it has an Outlook Connector for MS Outlook which acts like MS Exchange and keeps everything up-to-date. I have Gmail now and it's OK but I do agree with the folder structure, and when you include yourself in a message in Gmail, you can't delete that copy out of your sent folder because it also deletes the received copy. I really don't like that.

But again, thanks for all the replies. :)

scottls59901 said:

codyw said:

I have heard a lot of people say that Hotmail's security is like 'swiss cheese.' Some of the contacts that I have who have Hotmail have had their accounts hacked and the hacker(s) have sent out emails with a link in the message.

So, is it true that Hotmail's security is weak?

For added security!-
I set my firewall to Public 100% of the time.

I also Disabled Internet Connection Sharing-
Disable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)

Hotmail is my favorite free email, and I like their Folder structure Much better than Gmail/Yahoo.
I use an 11 digit mixed (letters (Upper/Lower case), & numbers)) email password for Hotmail, and 8 mixed is the recommended safe password minimum.

You can find problems like securing your ID and password from hackers.how to use hotmail? For all these issue you can take help here:-
hotmail support:)

Thank you and very interesting site. The one line that really stuck out was the fact that Hotmail is the easiest and most hacked service provider. Although they may have good security measures and integrity, it doesn't seem to stop the hackers from gaining access to accounts. That is really my primary reason for not using Hotmail. The level of trust in the account security just isn't there.