As has been the case with previous e-privacy problems, few had considered the issue until a software expert decided to take a look. Alerted by Smith, Microsoft and Netscape deployed engineers to analyze the vulnerability and determine whether their software should be altered. The company drew no immediate conclusions from Smith's findings. The software may present potential methods of misuse, but software cannot be expected to eliminate vulnerabilities altogether. If a new exploit turns up that raises the possibility of useful software being used in negative ways, that's inherent in any technology.
Bad people can sometimes do bad things with good technology.
The possibility of interaction between Web sites and the messages in users' email once again demonstrates that an increasingly networked world brings an increasingly dense thicket of problems. That's partly why privacy groups requested that the Federal Trade Commission oversee the resolution of the new email software problem. Smith sent a report of his finding to the FTC earlier this week. The Consumer Project on Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and the Center for Media Education joined Smith's demand that the loophole be closed. Send it .