EarthLink's passwords are naked

Tuesday, 18 June 2002, 5:25 AM EST

Passwords are Internet users' best defense against online-identity theft. So why is EarthLink exposing customer passwords to tech support staffers?

In a break from industry practice, EarthLink, the nation's fourth-largest Internet service, is allowing its support employees to have full access to the passwords of its 4.9 million subscribers.

According to EarthLink spokeswoman Carla Shaw, EarthLink service agents are permitted to view customer passwords in order to expedite the handling of one of the ISP's top support issues: forgotten passwords.

[ Read more ]





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