A bug is found in the Microsoft operating system and Phishing is declared illegal in California. All on today’s On This Day from TEST Huddle.
1991 – Microsoft keeps bug secret
David Cole, who was head of the Windows development team at Microsoft, on this day in 1991 sends an email to another executive stating that a “bug” inside Windows would “put competitor’s (software) on a treadmill (and) should surely crash at some point…”. In the email Cole tells others that the existence of the bug must be kept secret.
2005 – Phishing is illegal 
On this day, in 2005, the Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a bill into law that makes Phishing a civil offence. Phishing is the method attempting to extract usernames, passwords etc through masquerading as a trustworthy entity in e-mails. The law means violators are liable for actual damages or US$500,000 per violation, whichever is greater. The law, while criticised for being “too little, too late,” is one of the first efforts of its kind to address the issue of widespread email fraud.
Images: Wikipedia/Visa.ca
