From the Dark Side--M$ Faces Potential $2.2 Trillion Fine

for consumer fraud. Microsoft's penchant for slipshod security, while flying their flag of "trustworthy computing," may have finally gotten the company into trouble that even its deep pockets can't easily absorb. According to this wire service story, M$'s Internet Passport service has been found wanting. Again. This time it could cost the company as much as $2.2 trillion in fines levied by the Federal Trade Commission.

Last year M$ claims about the security of Passport were found to be deceptive and exaggerated by the FTC. It settled with M$ on the basis that M$ would deliver on its promises to protect consumer information for the next 20 years or face fines of up to $11,000 per violation. M$ has acknowledged that the latest vulnerability affects all 200 million accounts. The hole was found by a computer researcher in Pakistan whose own Passport info was repeated stolen. He found the flaw in about four minutes. M$ says it fixed the flaw overnight after reading about it on the internet.

Really. We're not making this up. [Dana Baggett]