‘Core’ flaw in internet security threatens email and website navigation

A newly discovered flaw in the internet’s core infrastructure not only permits hackers to force people to visit websites they didn’t want to, it also allows them to intercept email messages, according to the researcher who discovered the bug.

Considering the silent nature of the attack and the sensitive nature of much electronic correspondence, the potential for damage from this second security flaw is high. But there’s no evidence yet this method of targeting email has been used in a successful attack.

Dan Kaminsky of Seattle- based security consultant IOActive Inc exposed a giant vulnerability in the internet’s design that, in one case, allowed hackers to re-route computer users ito a fake Google.com site loaded with automated advertisement-clicking programmes — a scam to generate profits for the hackers from those clicks.