Security Flaw Exposes 35 Million AOL Accounts

Wed Jan 22 23:00:35 UTC 2003

Stones and glass houses.  Not to throw stones, but to learn how to build
better glass houses.  California's SB 1386 doesn't become effective until
July 1, 2003.

http://www.betanews.com/article.php3?sid=1043252353

Security Flaw Exposes 35 Million AOL Accounts
By Nate Mook and Craig Newell, BetaNews
January 22nd, 2003, 11:19 AM

The accounts of millions of AOL subscribers were jeopardized this week due
to a serious flaw in the company's Web-based mail system, BetaNews has
learned.

The vulnerability stems from an error in one of AOL's international e-mail
authentication systems, which granted users access without correctly
verifying passwords. By simply entering an account name, an AOL user had
the ability to read any other user's e-mail and all personal data
contained therein.