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Wednesday, May 15, 2002 |
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``For about 45 minutes on 14 May 2002, visitors to the United Airlines Web
site were able to buy roundtrip tickets for $25. United blames it on an
error by a computer that distributes fares for major airlines... It's not
the first time United has sold $25 tickets on its site. In January, 142
passengers bought tickets to international destinations for as little as
$25.''
However, from the article, it sounds like it may have been due to human
error, because ATP Co., the clearinghouse that distributes new sale fares to
their Web site, was trying to fix a problem where a $5 online discount was
not reflected in the sale prices but ended up loading all prices but the
actual fare itself. So the $25 includes just the "taxes, facility charges
and a $5 surcharge".
Full story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/15/national/main509107.shtml [Jason Axley via risks-digest Volume 22, Issue 10]
14:43
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White-hat hackers like to call themselves the good guys in the fight to secure networks and Web sites. Unlike black hats or crackers, theyâre not looking to slap porn on Web pages or bring sites crashing down. They just want to help: By finding the holes and publicly announcing their discoveries, they say, they teach their enterprise victims what they need to know.
The U.S. government and some security firms agree. Witness recent competitions that challenged contestants to break into networks and crack encryption codes÷with hot cars and pots of cash as prizes.
But a few security experts say the white-hat romance has gone too far. "Hacking is hacking," explains one. "Unless hackers are under contract as intrusion testers, it's illegal, and they should be thrown in jail."
That line of thinking is dangerous. Fact is, the white hats are doing a service by pointing out lax security. Rather than risk driving the good guys into the arms of the bad, enterprises would do better to openly embrace white hats÷and own up to their own security issues.
13:33
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Maximillian Dornseif, 2002.
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