ok first of all, the problem is because they Downloaded a program ON there computer that relies information. that's not hacking. that's them opening up the door and saying come in. that doesn't happen simply because someone has your email adress, nor does it happen from opening an email.
secondly, why would you have that information on your computer in the first place? See, now THAT is stupid. Yes, the Bank has your info on thier computers, but no one is hacking into the banks computer system. If it's not there, then people aren't going to be able to magically have access to it.
see I was under the impression that someone had pirated there way into the ******* dot com files and accessed the personal info that they had stored on there that members had shared thinking that it was secure. What really happened was just people being stupid.
so to sum things up, if you put personal information in a public forum and allow people to have access to it, then they will. If you don't then they won't and it will be really difficult for them to find that out and they will probably be going after someone that is a lot more worth it than you.
1. Don't keep personal information on your computer. If you have to share it use a company that is trusted for security AND guarantees that they will back you up, so that if it does get compromised, you won't get screwed.
2. Don't download anything from an email. One of the above mentioned sites is going to have the info on there network, they don't need to put anything on your computer. That's a clue right there you should be suspicious of. and if you do download something from them, it will be hosted on thier official site, not on something like email that anyone can acess and lie about who they are.
as to using a totally public and known information as means of verification, I don't know whethere to believe it. that's really stupid, and I think if that was the case, then everyone would be an idenity theft victim and people would be using my email and phone number to get real money instead of calling me up and begging me for it.