[ NNSquad ] Re: ISPs' Error Page Ads Let Hackers Hijack Entire Web, Researcher Discloses | Threat Level from Wired.com

[Barry Gold <bgold@matrix-consultants.com>]

Roy J. Tellason wrote:
> <http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/isps-error-page.html>
>
> Followup on the article from yesterday ...

Once again we see the dangers of letting people who do not have the 
expertise of those who designed the Internet (or even of the present 
IETF) meddle with the protocols.

I wonder what Earthlink (or Comcast or Time Warner) will think when one 
of these ill-thought-out(*) changes leads to a serious loss.  In this 
case the problem was reported before anything really bad happened, but I 
can easily see this leading to the theft of millions of passwords for 
Paypal, Chase Manhattan Bank, or other areas where *real money* is involved.

Then when they are served with a class-action lawsuit from all the 
people who lost money in a scam that takes advantage of this kind of 
thing (plus one from PayPal or BofA or Chase or Citi for their expenses 
in covering some of the losses and for loss of goodwill), they will say, 
"but nobody told us something like this could happen."

(*) More like, not-thought-out -- the people who make these ad-hoc 
changes don't think about the consequences at all.