contributed by pyle
Jeffrey Baker informed Bugtraq last Friday about the security vulnerabilities he discovered on E-Trade's website, which rendered customer accounts vulnerable to attack. Of concern was the potential manipulation of accounts during the time in which they were left unprotected, and the potential effects that this might have on the stock market. Baker reported the problems directly to E-Trade over a month ago, which were acknowledged -- but to date have not been fixed.

The Industry Standard
InternetNews.com

contributed by laney
Spammers appear to be committed to changing their ways by protecting online privacy rather than invading it. With a laundry list of self-regulatory standards, several prominent members of the electronic marketing community have banded together to form the Responsible Electronic Communications Alliance (RECA). Chris Wolf, President of RECA, said "The industry came together because it recognizes that if it's going to grow and prosper it's got to respect privacy." So does that mean it was the concern for lost privacy that sparked the industry's call to action, or the prospect of lost revenue?

InfoWorld.com
ZDNet
AP via Wired
RECA Standards

contributed by weld pond
The names, addresses and photographs of 1200 people may have been viewed during the recent infiltration of the Disney web site. The intruder entered through the computer system of the Leave a Legacy exhibit at Epcot. Disney apparently believes only "relatively small data" was accessed during the break-in.

AP via TechServer

contributed by weld pond
Former FBI informant, Max Ray Butler, has pleaded guilty to one felony charge of unauthorized access to protected computers after an intense investigation led to his arrest. It is believed Butler aka Max Vision, broke into numerous government agency computer systems after a short stint as an FBI informant on computer criminals. Sentencing will occur early next year.

Reuters via Yahoo

contributed by weld pond
South Africa may be on the brink of a security crisis if it doesn't update and reassess the security needs of its online banking systems. A wide variety of vulnerabilities threaten the customer accounts of the country's banks, making it extremely easy and increasingly likely for security breaches to occur.

InternetNews.com

contributed by editor
It appears the Observer's story on Fiserv we linked to yesterday may have contained unconfirmed or inaccurate information. According to the company, the hacked site "was actually a demonstration site set up for training and sales purposes."

The Register