14 DAY TRIAL // Google's video sharing service YouTube is currently affected by what seems to be a pretty dangerous glitch since it allows users to access others' accounts and view the information stored inside. Moreover, if the affected YouTube member uses the same account for Gmail, thanks to the global Google account which permits to have the same username and password for multiple services, somebody can even infiltrate into your inbox without too much effort.
According to ArabianBusiness, the glitch only occurs to the UAE users, currently customers of the Etisalat ISP. "When signed in on their own accounts, UAE users are able to view the 'My videos', 'Contacts', 'Favourites' and other menus belonging to other users," the mentioned source reported yesterday.
The issue only affects the clients of Etisalat, so the users of Du, another big Arabian Internet service provider, are protected against the glitch. According to the same source, the problem still persisted on Wednesday and we're still waiting for an official statement from Google or YouTube.
Trying to identity the source of the problem, the people from itp.net and the Windows Arabic magazine attempted to reproduce the glitch and see if they're able to access other users' accounts.
"In both tests the user accounts that were visible to UAE users were accounts that had been logged into only a few hours previously, suggesting that the index pages have been cached by Etisalat, and were somehow being accessed in error through the cache," ArabianBusiness informs.
YouTube was brought by Google in October 2006 for $1.65 billion and, since the acquisition was officially confirmed, the video sharing service has grown a lot, attracting millions of users every day. Although it has faced numerous copyright complaints over the time, YouTube remains the top video sharing technology on the market.