Guess what I found...

From: llurch@Networking.Stanford.EDU (Richard Charles Graves)
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc,alt.fan.bill-gates,alt.privacy
Subject: Re: Microsoft Network: Hard Drive Raid
Date: 11 Oct 1995 23:59:58 -0700
Message-ID: <45iede$dp2@Networking.Stanford.EDU>
References: <45h0v7$579@news.corpcomm.net>

rryan@blackhills.com (Richard Ryan) writes:
>Had my first hard core, proveable case of MSN reading someones drive. Store 
>Client had entered fantasy company name upon installing a program. Forgot about 
>it, didn't tell anyone. 2 days after downloading a simple text file from MSN a 
>junk mail offering from Pitney-Bowes showed up in his snail mailbox addressed 
>to him c/o the fantasy company. Somebody is playing somewhere they shouldn't 
>be. Any comments, Microsoft? 

I registered as Richard E. Graves (changing middle initials and adding an
unnecessary suite number to your address are good ways to track who has
been selling whom your address). Richard E. Graves also received mail from
Pitney-Bowes.

Microsoft says they don't sell their mailing lists. Clearly, someone has
taken advantage of security holes in the NT servers that make up MSN and
*stole* the mailing lists. Maybe unauthorized external access accounts for
the abysmal performance of MSN, in part.

-rich
 moderator of the win95netbugs list
 http://www-dccs.stanford.edu/NetConsult/Win95Net/faq.html

Donald M. Kitchen wrote:
> rryan@blackhills.com (Richard Ryan) writes:
> >Had my first hard core, proveable case of MSN reading someones drive. Store
> >Client had entered fantasy company name upon installing a program. Forgot about
> >it, didn't tell anyone. 2 days after downloading a simple text file from MSN a
> >junk mail offering from Pitney-Bowes showed up in his snail mailbox addressed
> >to him c/o the fantasy company. Somebody is playing somewhere they shouldn't
> >be. Any comments, Microsoft?
> 
> I registered as Richard E. Graves (changing middle initials and adding an
> unnecessary suite number to your address are good ways to track who has
> been selling whom your address). Richard E. Graves also received mail from
> Pitney-Bowes.
> 
> Microsoft says they don't sell their mailing lists. Clearly, someone has
> taken advantage of security holes in the NT servers that make up MSN and
> *stole* the mailing lists. Maybe unauthorized external access accounts for
> the abysmal performance of MSN, in part.

Hmmm...  Did you guys check the box that says not to give your name out when 
signing up?  I did and I haven't gotten any junk mail yet.  I've been using MSN for 
half a year now.  Of course if there is a security hole, then the checkbox would 
hardly matter.

-- 

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