Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/10/01/email_security_scare_at_lineone/

E-mail security scare at LineOne

OSP looking into it

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 1st October 1999 11:53 GMT

British Online Service Provider LineOne has confirmed it is investigating a possible breach in security of its Web based e-mail service. It's too early to say how widespread the problem is although at this stage it appears that only a handful of people have been affected. There is no evidence to suggest that the problem is on the same scale as that experienced by millions of HotMail users when Microsoft's Web-based e-mail service was hacked recently. Instead, it's understood that the glitch -- which allows people to view other people's e-mail -- is restricted to a handful of people. One Register reader, who asked not to be named, explained: "My partner logged on to check his account, and found himself reading someone else's mails. "So he logged back in, again his usual user name and password, and got someone else again, same story. "He did this TEN times and each time had someone else's account in full view. Which means, no doubt, that his mail is being read by someone else." Today LineOne md Ajay Chowdhury said he was aware of a problem. "There is an issue," he said "and we are urgently looking at it." ®