i wonder why i didn’t hear about mass hijackings of aim accounts anywhere else:

Hackers exploiting a loophole in America Online’s signup process have begun taking their pick of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) accounts, hijacking them virtually at will.

The technique emerged early this month on AOL-Files, a meeting place for AOL hackers, where it was born as a harmless hack that allows users to establish AOL accounts with screen names that are — unconventionally — indented.

The more sinister applications of the bug became clear later. “It wasn’t until recently that anyone noticed that it could be used to hijack Instant Messenger accounts,” says Adrian Lamo, founder of Inside-AOL and a longtime chronicler of AOL’s foibles. “And it only became a significant problem in the past week.””

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