Altavista Free Internet Security

[plex_inphiniti () YAHOO COM (Plex Inphiniti)]

Greetings,

AFFECTED OS: Windows 95/98

I have searched and found no post of reference to Altavista's Free Internet
Client.

Altavista (the popular search engine) has offered free internet access for
quite awhile now. Using the MicroPortal code they offer a cost-free
(financially speaking, although you have to trade a portion of your desktop
space for their banner.) way to access the internet. Many other free internet
services have been shown to be gone around in ways to make the connection to be
a standard DUN connection.

Altavista (using Microportal) uses Windows Dialup Networking. It fills in the
username (based on your username when registering - which become your email
address ie. blah () altavista com). It then proceeds to (on starting the Client)
bring up this DUN connectoid, fills in the password, the local access number,
then connects. Then launches the banner (taking up 1/5th of your screen on
800x600) which then shows advertisements and will disconnect you if you don't
click on a banner once an hour.

An problem with this system is that the user can simply click "Save Password"
on the connectoid created by Altavista, then connect (with their client), then
disconnect. Upon checking the password field on the connectoid the password is
then there and all the user needs to do is to fill in the local access number
to connect without running the client at all.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

There could be several ways to solve this. I will name a few that come to mind
(I am sure there are many others.) The client software itself could (upon
connecting) send the ip address to a server which would then verify itself with
the ip just issued with the dialup connection. If the ip was not sent to the
server, the dialup server would drop the connection.

Another viable solution would be to have a server (after the dialup connection
was made) issue a new dialup password that would agree with one set on the
dialup server. So on the next connection the new password would be used.

Although these are several ideas I believe that Altavista will themselved will
come up with a viable solution to this problem.

- PLEX INPHINITI
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