Hotmail breach shakes confidence in internet security

Microsoft's free e-mail service, used by an estimated 50 million people worldwide, was shut down for several hours earlier this week as software engineers worked to re-establish security.

Confidentiality was shattered when hackers found a way to side-step password protection and enter individual accounts - raising the prospect of embarrassment for some users. Hotmail has been taken up, at least in part, as a 'private' communication channel for personal or sensitive messages deemed inappropriate for e-mail systems run, and possibly monitored, by employers.

More importantly, the breach of security, widely publicised on the internet, raises doubts about the development of commercial information and e-commerce systems.

However, encryption software is good and getting better. The Financial Times recently reported that a team of international researchers needed seven months and 292 computers to crack the security codes protecting e-commerce transactions.

More vulnerable, to both hacking and virus attack, are 'normal' computer files.

Elliott Chase