A group calling itself Hackers Unite says they were the ones responsible for exposing and publicizing a Hotmail security breach which left up to 50 million Hotmail e-mail accounts vulnerable to anyone with a Web browser.
Through a spokesman, the group says they announced the hole "not…to hack to destroy, we want to show the world how bad the security on Microsoft really is, and that company nearly (has a) monopoly on (all) the computer software," according to Wired Digital.
Microsoft continues denying a back door oversight led to the security breach. But the administrator of one site which hosted the Hotmail exploit, Jon Thompson, tells MSNBC his own associates knew about the vulnerability - and had access to Hotmail accounts - for approximately eight weeks.
Hackers Unite is said to include one Swede and seven Americans. They are known to gather on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) network - an independent online network on which millions around the world chat…including hackers and crackers, which IRC administrators have had a continuing battle to keep away.
Analysts estimate the Hotmail breach was the largest and most widespread security breach in the history of the Internet. But it didn't exactly hack a hole in Wall Street - Microsoft stock was said to be down only a point around the breach and immediate aftermath.
