This article is more than 1 year old

Want to publish your credit card details? That'll do nicely, sir

Gaping hole in etailer security

A Manchester-based computer e-tailer has failed to solve a problem on its Web site potentially jeopardising the security of hundreds of its customers. On Friday, The Register informed MicroLand Online that the financial details of transactions were openly available on its site. The personal details of some 150 people -- including names and credit card details such as numbers and expiry dates -- were clearly and openly available on the site, without any form of password protection or obvious security. Andrew Percy, MD of MicroLand Online admitted that the information should have been protected by a password and insisted that he would implement a "short-term fix" to remedy the situation. According to Percy, the site was rebuilt more than a week ago and that this was probably the root of the security lapse. He said the construction and maintenance of the site was outsourced to a separate company. However, The Register delayed publishing the story on Friday when it became clear the "fix" was not as thorough as suggested and that the personal details of customers were still being published on the site. Today, transaction details can still be found although all sensitive information has now been removed. However, the information still has not been password protected. Kevin Black, of Internet Security Systems was dismayed at the lax security. "This kind of thing doesn't help anyone in e-commerce, and does nothing to boost consumer confidence," he said. The Register learnt of the problem after being informed by a concerned reader. ®

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