Symantec's 'Submit-A-Deal' Flawed

from the oops dept

Normally, I don't bother posting stories about flawed security on websites. We all know that they're there, and one more case doesn't really prove much of a point. However, this latest example, by Wired News' Brian Mcwilliams (who seems to be the Wired News reporter-in-charge-of-hacking) is interesting in a few ways. The story is about how Symantec's website had an option to let companies offer up business proposals (often suggesting that they be acquired). It turns out that this "submit a deal" system wasn't even the slightest bit secured. It was just wide open, so that anyone could see all the various deals that people were submitting to Symantec. As I said, news that a database that should have been absolutely private was available, is not news. However, when it happens to a company that claims to create security software, it makes you wonder. The second interesting tidbit is that this flaw exposed the fact that the Vmyths site was trying to sell itself to Symantec. This would be unfortunate, because Vmyths has made its name by pointing out the conflicts of interest all the anti-virus and security companies (including Symantec) have in announcing new virus finds. Vmyths tries to tone down the virus hype by pointing out that these companies make more money by scaring you into buying their products. For years, Vmyths has always said they wouldn't take any advertising dollars from these companies, to preserve its independence. Now, they're trying to sell out to one of them? It makes you wonder how honest they've been about Symantec claims.

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