Are there statistics regarding the safety of email?

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

CC me on any answers djf

> Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
> Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 11:09:56 -0600
> From: Don Norman <norman () nngroup com>
> Subject: Are there statistics regarding the safety of email?
> To: dave () farber net
> Organization: Nielsen Norman group
>
>
> As a long-time reader of multiple lists and student of human behavior, I
> have recently found myself in a debate about the real (not theoretical)
> safety of information enclosed within email (and to a lesser extent, between
> an Instant message being sent between two people).
>
> Any Farberonians have data?  Not opinions, data.
>
> Here is the issue.
>
> We all know that both email and IM is sent unencrypted. Anyone with a
> sniffer could read the contents. Hence, the common statement that one should
> never send social security numbers, credit card information, and other
> private data in these ways.
>
> But what are the facts? I have read numerous accounts of thefts, identity
> theft, and break-ins, but all involved various break-ins, Trojan-horses, or
> other deceptions.  I have never (yet) read of thefts by sniffing -- with the
> exception of targeting cases, where one person deliberately spied upon
> another.  But here, I am talking about the likelihood that some people might
> monitor a large stream of email or IM in the hopes of collecting personal
> data.
>
> Are there any data of misappropriation of personal email through sniffing or
> other means of reading unencrypted email or Instant Messaging?
>
> My suspicion is that, despite the openness of the transmission, it is in
> reality reasonably safe.
>
> So what are the data?
>
> Don Norman. Nielsen Norman Group      http://www.nngroup.com
> norman () nngroup com        http://www.jnd.org
> Prof. Computer Science and Psychology, Northwestern University

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