9/1/98 08:00
New Hotmail Exploit
Because-We-Can has come up with yet another Hotmail exploit. They have termed this one "Attackments". The general idea is to send an HTML document as an attachment and include a Macromedia Shockwave inside it. The Shockwave then replaces the user controls with fake ones, and pretends the user has timed out, asking them to relogin. When they do, their username and password are sent off to the curious cracker. To protect yourself (if you are a hotmail user), it is recommended that you do not view any HTML attachments until Microsoft patches their holes once again. If you want to try the bug out for yourself, download mailmess.htm, and mail it to your hotmail account as an attachment. WARNING: If you enter a username and password, they will be sent to Because-We-Can.

8/31/98 15:00
Usenet Attacked
Over the last week, Usenet operators have been experiencing DOS attacks. These attacks apparently exploit bugs in control messages (normally used to cancel posts) to wreak havoc on the network. Massive backlogs are resulting, and the Usenet system may slowly grind to a halt if the hacks by North American hackers continue. The hackers have yet to be caught.

8/29/98 20:00
Microsoft Patches Hotmail
Microsoft finally got around to patching Hotmail against the Spartan Horse that allowed e-mail code to use JavaScript and trick users into handing over their logons and passwords. Microsoft's solution was to parse all script content out of the messages.

8/28/98 22:00
MTV Hack Scare
MTV put up a graphic with the MTV logo overlayed with "J.F. was here". JF is an ex-member of milw0rm, and was partly responsible for the Indian nuclear site hacks. The graphic turned out to be an advertisment for a new show, but it tripped up some major news agencies. It even got AntiOnline, and they published a story about the MTV "hack" for about 5 minutes.