Previously, a few organizations gave themselves code-based names just to intrigue others, yet one of them had to change the name due to the danger of being hacked.
According to TheGuardian, a UK company overheard a software consultant changing its company name after it was discovered that it could lead to command line attacks on many websites, including Company House. A website may have unintentionally turned itself into “prey” just by accidentally mentioning this company name.
The company’s original name, “”> LTD, “risks confusing websites that do not handle HTML correctly. They will assume the company name is left blank and run a script from the XSS Hunter troubleshooting page. It’s an innocuous scenario that simply gives a warning, but Company House doesn’t want to take the risk. The name poses a security risk to several other websites, a company spokesperson said.</p>
From that incident, the consultant changed the business name to “THAT COMPANY WHOSE NAME USED TO CONTAIN HTML SCRIPT TAGS LTD” (the company whose name is used to contain HTML SCRIP TAGS LTD). Meanwhile, the company said it has “taken measures” to prevent such a repeat, at least in the UK.
It’s interesting to see how such a long and eye-catching codename has troubled companies, but it also shows the problem with web security. If a name is enough to wreak havoc on a website, there is much work to be done before the site’s owner claims their home page is secure.
