The earlier consternation

[Karen]

I have done quite a bit of investigation into the matter regarding TheBlob24, DogLover9501, and all the hullabaloo from this weekend.


Regarding the unfortunate incident earlier this week, if you don't know what I am talking about, you can skip this thread, as the thread and account that initially caused the trouble have been deleted, so I cannot point you to them.

I know believe the following occurred:

Someone got or guessed DogLover9501's Pet Talk password, and/or the password to her hotmail email account. Then that person, who shall remain nameless, used that information to both impersonate her and caused trouble on Pet Talk.

I now believe that DogLover9501 was not at fault.

The lesson we should all take from this is to be aware that this can happen. Change your account password from time to time, just in case.

The person whom I suspect of causing this trouble has not been back to Pet Talk since, and will be carefully monitored if s/he chooses to return. As I have no absolutely definitive proof, I will not publicly post a name.

The further lesson is that, if you ever have a problem with a Pet Talk member, which "TheBlob" purported to. Do not register a new name just to criticize and think you will be taken seriously. The right thing to do in that situation is to contact Paul or myself. Let us moderate the situation.

[slick]

As someone who works in the IT department...a word about passwords.

Your password should contain a combination of capital and small letters, digits, and special characters.

For example....
Don't use your spouse's name or your pets name. Instead something like these are much more secure...

MyDog8C00kies*
The#Quick#Brown#Fox#Ate#1#Rabbit
1ThingIDoEveryDayIsSpend$
EyeBrush3Time$Daily
WishIHad247$
MyParent$LiveAt128Marshall$tInBoone,IA
GrandpaIs50%Retired

I know these passwords are long, but they are much harder to decipher and they are "cookied" so you only have to type it in once.

[Logan]

Thank you for following up, Karen. I know Robyn feels vindicated and I'm glad about that.

[dukedogsmom]

I'm glad to hear that because I really found it hard to believe it was her. Also, I feel that you should pm her and tell her who it was. She deserves to know that.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I, too, am glad to hear it wasn't Robyn. Like I said in the deleted post, I had never seen any such type of behavior from her and I would have been shocked if it was her.

Robyn, I hope you see this soon and don't leave PT. We need more pics of the adorable Tigger and beautiful Emma!

[Lilith Cherry]

I am so glad for Robyn that this was cleared up! We all know you are a nice person !

[trayi52]

Thank God I missed the whole thing! I know Robyn is a sweet and caring person.

Robyn, you come back and continue posting about those adorable furbabies of yours, you are missed!

Willie

[slleipnir]

Good to know, thanks Karen

[catnapper]

Thank you Karen. I just knew it wasn't Robyn since she has always been a sweet and wonderful (and moved loved) member of PT. I hope she stays and continues to post on and on!

[NoahsMommy]

I agree that Robyn is a very sweet girl. I've never seen anything that was mean from her, ever.

I hope she wasn't so offended that she's not coming back.

[RICHARD]

Jeez,

I think there are some apologies to be had.

Originally posted by slick
Your password should contain a combination of capital and small letters, digits, and special characters.

Of course I use digits, how else do you think I type?

[Robyn1012]

It's been a really long and hard few days, it still feels like all of this hasn't "sank in".

Karen, thank you so much for sorting this out.

Originally posted by slick
As someone who works in the IT department...a word about passwords.

Your password should contain a combination of capital and small letters, digits, and special characters.

For example....
Don't use your spouse's name or your pets name. Instead something like these are much more secure...

MyDog8C00kies*
The#Quick#Brown#Fox#Ate#1#Rabbit
1ThingIDoEveryDayIsSpend$
EyeBrush3Time$Daily
WishIHad247$
MyParent$LiveAt128Marshall$tInBoone,IA
GrandpaIs50%Retired

I know these passwords are long, but they are much harder to decipher and they are "cookied" so you only have to type it in once.

I figured out that those were all my exact problems, Debbie(sirrahbed) and I talked about it on the phone, and I've always heard that you shouldn't use simple passwords, and you shouldn't use the same password for everything, yet I've done that my entire life, that is definatly changed now!

Also, Karen do I have to keep using this new account?

[Karen]

No, you can go back to the old one. I sent you mail to your gmail account!

[wolf_Q]

3 questions, not trying to cause trouble just trying to clear some things up that don't make sense to me...

If this person got into Robyns account intending to make her look bad and cause trouble, why did they make up a new username instead of using hers?

Can you fake an IP address? I thought (and I'll admit I'm not too keen on technical stuff ) that the IP address came from your actual computer, not like a user ID or email...

Did they hack into her messenger account too? Because some people talked with her on aim or yahoo...

[Karen]

I'll answer those in a PM.