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General discussion

Hole opens way to free MSN Premium

Feb 26, 2004 11:14AM PST

A flaw in Microsoft's MSN Explorer software has allowed some Web surfers to gain free access to features and services that normally cost US$9.95 a month, the software giant confirmed on Thursday.

Programmers in mainland China discovered the flaw sometime last year, a source familiar with the exploit told ZDNet China. This person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Chinese hackers have successfully created MSN Explorer 9 premium accounts that provide free access to 30MB of online storage and a 25MB e-mail in-box, as well as to applications such as MSN Money Plus.

The exploit takes advantage of a modified installation file in MSN Explorer 8.5 that allows Web surfers to upgrade to MSN Explorer 9 by using fake high-speed Internet accounts from Verizon Communications. The crack grants free access to MSN Explorer 9 premium services that come bundled with Verizon's DSL (digital subscriber line) service under a co-marketing deal struck in 2002. Verizon DSL and MSN premium services are not currently marketed in China.

A Microsoft representative said the exploit poses no security threat, nor does it jeopardize subscriber information. He added that Microsoft and Verizon are taking "immediate steps" to fix the problem.

http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/applications/0,39001094,39169825,00.htm

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