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AOL/Time Warner Email Database Hacked?
(or, How to Catch a Spammer)
They seemed like the usual spam messages. But something caught his attention. The only way they good have gotten his email address was by hacking into the web database of a multi-billion dollar company.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AOL/Time Warner Email Database Hacked?
(or, How to Catch a Spammer)
Glastonbury, CT - November 11, 2002
"It was shortly before midnight on Sunday evening that the
first of three email messages started coming in," says
Joe Chapuis, editor of the Net Tips Newsletter at RequiredReading.com.
Although at first they appeared to be your typical porn-
related unsolicited email messages (Spam), there was
something different about them that immediately caught
his eye. It was the recipient address of the email
message that sent up red flag. They were addressed to
"ComedyCentral.com@ibite.com."
Joe explains, "I own the domain name "ibite.com." Whenever I
provide my email address, whether it is for a free web
newsletter or an online transaction, I always include the
domain name of the site I'm visiting in my email address.
And then, I never use this email address again --
it's a "throw away" address."
This allows him to pinpoint the origin of much of the spam
he receives. This means that if he was to receive junk mail
addressed to comedycentral.com@ibite.com, it would probably be
the web site ComedyCentral.com that leaked (intentionally or not)
the email address to a third party.
The spam led Joe to believe one of two things had happened.
Either Comedy Central shared (sold) his email address
to a third party, which would have been in direct violation
of their privacy policy; or, more likely, they were hacked
and their email address database had been compromised
(read: stolen).
And apparently, that's what happened last night. But the troubling
part is the fact that Comedy Central is not simply some small
time operator without the resources to maintain tight web security.
They're a part of the multi-billion dollar AOL/Time Warner empire.
"Either way," says Joe, "It certainly is disappointing."
He adds, "This isn't about one silly little email message
and a talented young woman doing bizarre things with a horse.
Providing reliable online security while maintaining the privacy
of user information is the most important thing web sites
and online businesses can do."
"And if AOL can't do it," he adds, "Who can?"
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The email letter informing ComedyCentral.com of this problem,
along with the contents of the spam message can be found at:
http://www.RequiredReading.com/blog/
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For additional information, please contact:
Joe Chapuis
Editor, The Net Tips Newsletter
2842 Main St. #183 Glastonbury, CT 06033
Phone: 860-974-3716
Fax: 508-632-1051
Email: joe@requiredreading.com
Web site: www.RequiredReading.com
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