RealPrivacy in the New Millennium?
Your computer's audio CD and MP3 players may harbor a swarm of espionage bugs.
The year 2000 will have dawned safely by the time you read this. And chances are the biggest Y2K challenge will be writing the correct year on personal checks. Still, in case your once-sensible PC insists on turning cartwheels on the lawn or demands drolly that you address it as Hal, we'd be remiss to yield to our "enough, already" impulses just yet.
If recent history is any indication, Internet privacy is likely to be a major concern in the next millennium. Early last year, independent security consultant Richard M. Smith discovered the use of GUIDs--numbers that uniquely identify a PC--in some of Microsoft's software. More recently, Smith made news again when he spotted GUIDs at work in RealNetworks' RealJukebox audio CD and MP3 player.
Like some other players, RealJukebox can automatically download audio CD title and track information from the Web. This handy feature, Smith discovered, harbored a serious pitfall: When RealJukebox requested CD information, it transmitted a GUID to RealNetworks, which could use that data to build a list of the user's CDs. (Note: This "requesting" of information happens by default but can be disabled.)
Smith also found that RealJukebox automatically reported other information to RealNetworks, such as the user's preference in music and the portable MP3 player in use. That data could be linked to the user's e-mail address, given during registration.
RealNetworks responded swiftly when Smith released his findings. For the 10 million users who had downloaded RealJukebox before November 8, 1999, the company released a 67KB patch that disables the GUID and prevents daily transmissions. RealJukebox users can download the fix from the RealJukebox update site or by choosing RealPlayer's Help, Check for Update menu option. RealNetworks also added privacy enhancements to RealJukebox's full versions; these updated versions are available at Real.com. Finally, the company disabled the GUID in the default settings of its RealPlayer 7 streaming media player. Download the new version from Real.com, or by selecting Help, Check for Update.
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