Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Colorado Researchers Crack Internet Chess Club

Posted by timothy on from the that's-nice-dear-and-how-was-class dept.

edpin writes "University of Colorado at Boulder students hacked the 30,000-plus-member Internet Chess Club as part of research funded by the National Science Foundation. With guidance from University of Colorado at Boulder computer security researcher John Black, two students reverse-engineered the service to up their ranks and steal passwords." Update: 10/10 23:05 GMT by T : Reader Bryan Rapp points out that this story duplicates the one posted last month -- sorry about that.

2 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Another dupe, timothy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Internet Chess Club Security Defeated

  2. ICC Security Improvements by gmacd997 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Internet Chess Club (ICC) has taken steps to improve security since this paper was published.

    For details on the paper and ICC's response see the help file at:
    http://www.chessclub.com/help/blackpaper

    For details on how ICC protects user's security see:
    http://www.chessclub.com/help/security

    For details on how ICC protects user's privacy see:
    http://www.chessclub.com/help/privacy

    An excerpt from the /blackpaper help file:

    Question: What is ICC doing to improve security?

    ICC is doing three main things to improve security:

    1) ICC has changed our payment systems so that all online credit card payments go through secure web forms. You can check out our new secure web payment forms at https://www.chessclub.com/store/members/payment.ph p When you access the web form, your browser shows a 'locked padlock' icon that indicates your communication with ICC are encrypted and secure. ICC takes great care in protecting financial information. See http://www.chessclub.com/help/privacy for more information.

    2) ICC is updating Timestamp to close the cracks identified in the paper. This process will take some time to complete. As Black, Cochran, and Gardner show in their paper, getting Timestamp security right is a complex task. Ultimately, when we deploy a new version of Timestamp, ICC users will need to upgrade their chess client software to take advantage of the increased security.

    3) ICC is doing an internal security review. ICC is committed to keeping confidential data secure through upgrades to our servers and client programs. We are actively engaged in improving our current security mechanisms, while at the same time, devoting substantial resources to catching cheaters.

    ...

    If you have any questions or comments, you can ask a question in Channel 1, the Help Channel, send a message to ICC or send an email to icc@chessclub.com.

    Also, ICC is not suing anyone over the paper by John Black, Martin Cochran, and Ryan Gardner.

    George MacDonald
    General Manager
    Internet Chess Club