Internet companies scramble to fix cache poisoning glitch

Last Modified: 11 Jul 2008
By: Benjamin Cohen

Internet groups including Microsoft have had to resolve a glitch which posed a potential security risk to information stored online.

The flaw allowed hackers to send users to online addresses which were not the ones they thought they were being directed to, a phenomenon known as "cache poisoning".

The hackers could then gather information users thought they were inputting elsewhere, or even trick users into making payments to fraudulent sources.

Unsurprisingly, there has been a scramble to fix the problem since it was first exposed earlier this year.

The existence of cache poisoning, and the fact that it can be utilised by hackers, is a perfect illustration of both the fragility and the strength of the internet.

It is fragile because by performing what is, in effect, a rather simple function, hackers and other criminals could con millions of us into visiting fake versions of websites.

For example, they could create a fake version of Paypal that then collected data, allowing criminals to both commit both identity theft and to steal money.

It's worrying that the flaw has only been discovered now. And although the experts say it has not been exploited before, we can never be sure.

The interconnectivity of the internet means that if one part is affected, then the rest can be: it's fragile.

But, in a sense, the speed with which the IT industry has reacted to this flaw is testament to the internet's strength. The interconnectivity that makes it fragile meant that it was in everyone's interest to quickly deploy remedies to the problem.

The internet is in a sense public space.