Inside-AOL.com

Inside-AOL.com was a website founded around the belief that AOL customers deserved full disclosure of alleged rampant culture of insecurity. It was the first in a long string of web sites on this topic.

Despite a series of skirmishes with AOL -- "Inside-AOL" leaked pre-release copies of every version of the AOL software released during its existence, and largely pushed AOL security figurehead Tatiana Gau out of the public eye for several years -- the site enjoyed popularity and acceptance by the tech media, often scooping larger news sites.

Steered by Adrian Lamo until its ultimate demise in 2001, "Inside-AOL" was the brewing ground for Lamo's full-disclosure mentality. Turning the concept of zero day attack compromise on its head, Lamo aggressively forced AOL to address and admit emerging threats as soon as he became aware of them.

Lamo ceased to maintain "Inside-AOL" around the turn of the century. The last post made to the site was a quote by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, reading "Silence is argument continued by other means."

While the domain is no longer under the control of the original owners, the content is mirrored in various internet archives.

ee also

*YTCracker
*RAINMAN
*Adrian Lamo
*Tatiana Gau

External links

* [http://www.salon.com/tech/log/1999/07/01/inside_aol/index.html Can AOL Silence Its Critics?] Salon.com
* [http://www.wired.com/news/technology/infostructure/0,57753-1.html Hackers run wild & free on AOL] Wired News
* [http://www.securityfocus.com/news/119 Hijackers Take AIM Accounts] SecurityFocus.com
* [http://slashdot.org/articles/00/08/13/137233.shtml AOL for Linux?] Slashdot.org
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NEW/is_2001_Oct_8/ai_78998764 AOL Stops One Security Breach, Fails To Stop Another] Washington Post NewsBytes
* [http://news.com.com/2100-1023-242034.html AOL security breach exposes personal info] c|net news.com