Virus lands T-Online customer with giant bill

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2000/31/ns-17207.html

By Dietmar Mueller, ZDNet Germany
Wed, 09 Aug 2000 14:30:54 GMT

While UK users worry which is the most cost-effective ISP, one German
surfer would discourage users from T-Online

One look at at his T-Online bill and Patrick S, a businessman from
Straubing, Bavaria, almost suffered a stroke. The telco was charging
him a total of 9,000 deutschmarks (1,800).

"I immediately wrote to the telecom company in protest. Usually my
bills amount to roughly 300 deutschmarks a month," the victim explains
to ZDNet. Around three weeks later Germanys largest Internet provider
told him the case had been looked into, and that nothing unusual had
been found.

When the second bill of 15,000 deutschmarks (4,629) arrived, the angry
customer became even more suspicious and turned to the police.

T-Online notified Patrick S in writing that the total sum of
approximately 25,000 deutschmarks had not been paid. His T-Online
account was blocked and business ISDN line was cut off. "It was only
once I filed an official complaint at the Regensburg District Court
that the telecom company reconnected the two lines," he says.

Meanwhile, the Straubing police department discovered that that
someone had managed to get hold of his private account information.
This data was probably retrieved via a email integrated backdoor-virus
named "Sub-Seven".

"The suspect must have then spread this information over the Internet.
We have now tracked down 85 users within the country who use the same
account," explained Klaus Pickel, spokesman for the Straubing police
department. Pickel advised Internet surfers to install a anti-virus
programme to control emails and to change all passwords on a regular
basis.

A straightfoward calculation shows that T-Online customers using the
T-Online Eco tariff can accumulate a monthly bill of 1,300
deutschmarks if they stay online all the time.

"It is however possible for more than one user to access the Internet
simultaneously using the same T-Online account. This makes it possible
for the businessman in his hotel room to go online using the same
account as his wife using it from home," explains Deutsche Telekom
spokesman Walter Genz. T-Online was unable to comment by press time.

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