A recent hiccup in email availability triggered questions that I haven’t posed to myself before. While checking my email, I got locked out of my account by the provider saying it was caused by a suspicious activity. Supposedly, I was sending a large number of messages indicating possible spam. The provider suggested to give them my mobile number and wait for a code that would let me reactivate my email account.

While I was waiting, I was thinking what is at stake. Do I have a sensitive personal information present in some of the messages that an intruder could discover? No, I don’t store passwords, or critical numbers in my email account for fast access. Will I lose some important message, if messages get deleted? No. Do I have copy of all contacts in the account? No. This would be the only significant loss. I have had the account for the past 15 years and I have never made the simple task: Export contacts. I did it right after the account was reactivated.

The account wasn’t compromised. A large number of people (over 80) were repeatedly messaging and “replying to all.” It triggered the provider’s security filters to block the account.