Tsunami donation: jailed for using a non-standard browser (lynx)

[Janina Sajka]

Andor Demarteau writes:
> :) luckily you can set your browserstring in nearly all unix browsers
> includidng lynx.


Yes, and it sometimes even works to do that. However, it often breaks as
many sites try to customize to particular browser behaviors.

> 
> I'd set it to IE as specially if I was hacking thy'd mistake it for a
> virus ;)
> probably a win200[03] IIS webserver and admin I'd say otherwise he/she
> certainly would know what lynx is. stupid windhoosadmins
> 
> On Fri, 28 Jan 2005, Aldo wrote:
> 
>  > Src: BoingBoing.net
>  >
>  > Thursday, January 27, 2005
>  >
>  >    Jailed for using a nonstandard browser
>  >    A  Londonder made a tsnuami-relief donation using lynx -- a text-based
>  >    browser  used  by the blind, Unix-users and others -- on Sun's Solaris
>  >    operating  system. The site-operator decided that this "unusual" event
>  >    in  the system log indicated a hack-attempt, and the police broke down
>  >    the donor's door and arrested him. From a mailing list:
>  >
>  >      For  donating  to  a  Tsunami  appeal  using Lynx on Solaris 10. BT
>  >      [British Telecom] who run the donation management system misread an
>  >      access log and saw hmm thats a non standard browser not identifying
>  >      it's type and it's doing strange things. Trace that IP. Arrest that
>  >      hacker.
>  >
>  >      Armed  police,  a  van,  a  police cell and national news later the
>  >      police  have  gone in SWAT styley and arrested someone having their
>  >      lunch.
>  >
>  >      Out  on bail till next week and preparing to make a lot of very bad
>  >      PR for BT and the Police....
>  >
>  >      So  just  goes to show if you use anything other than Firefox or IE
>  >      and  you rely on someone else to interogate access logs or IDS logs
>  >      you too could be sitting in a paper suit in a cell :(
>  >
>  >    [*]Link (Thanks, Patrick!)
>  >
>  >    Update::  The  source that told me about this has corroborated it with
>  >    more  detail  in  private  email, but is leery of going public. I hope
>  >    that  more  publicly available details appear soon, and will post them
>  >    when I have them.
>  >
>  >    posted by Cory Doctorow at 12:08:00 AM
>  >
>  >   [*] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4195339.stm
>  >
>  > http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/27/jailed_for_using_a_n.html
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >
> 
> -- 
> Andor Demarteau                 E-mail: andor at nl.linux.org
> student computer science        www: http://www.nl.linux.org/~andor
> UU based & VU guest-student     jabber,icq,msn,voip: do ask ;)
> -----------
> chairman Stichting Studiereizen Storm 2002-2004
> vice-chairman USF Studentenbelangen executive committee 2002-2003
> 
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-- 

Janina Sajka				Phone: +1.202.494.7040
Partner, Capital Accessibility LLC	http://www.CapitalAccessibility.Com

Chair, Accessibility Workgroup		Free Standards Group (FSG)
janina at freestandards.org		http://a11y.org

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