huridocs-tech More Hotmail problems; why not to trust Web mail

Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
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## author     : declan@well.com
## date       : 30.08.99
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[A comedy of errors. A roughly 12 hour lag from the time
when the Hotmail backdoor was first reported to the time the
servers were pulled for the first non-fix is hardly doing
well by users. In fact, MS sent out a press release about
the problem before actually fixing it. Hushmail, anyone?
--Declan]

http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/21490.html

                     Hotmail Accounts Still Exposed by
                     Declan McCullagh and by James Glave

                     8:05 a.m.  30.Aug.99.PDT No sooner was
                     one catastrophic security flaw closed
                     Monday -- one that exposed millions of
                     Hotmail accounts to prying eyes -- when
                     another one appeared.

                     The net result: As of 2 p.m. PDT,
                     Hotmail account holders remain in
                     jeopardy of having their email messages
                     read, as well as being impersonated in
                     email.

                     [...]

http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/21498.html

                     Want Security? Forget Web Mail by
                     Declan McCullagh

                     12:50 p.m.  30.Aug.99.PDT By now you've
                     likely heard of Microsoft's devastating
                     Hotmail security gaffe, which exposed
                     the naked contents of millions of
                     personal email accounts for the perusal
                     of the world's voyeurs.

                     Well, get ready for the disturbing
                     verdict from security experts: These
                     sorts of security holes -- gaping maws,
                     really -- are inevitable.

                     [...]





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