Web 2.0: The Dark Side

Unless you've been sitting in a cave on Mars with your hands over your ears while shouting, you've probably heard of "Web 2.0." It's the catchy buzzword for the next generation of the web that is best demonstrated by hot new web apps like Writely.com, Google maps, MySpace.com, and Basecamp, to name a few.

But as with all new technology that makes our lives easier, there will always be those who will turn it to evil. This article on Help Net Security describes how "Web 2.0" sites using technologies like AJAX, XML, RIA, RSS, and other web services are vulnerable to malicious attack.

Now this is the case with any web site, but what's worrisome about sites developed with innovative technologies is that they haven't been around long enough for security experts to figure out the best ways to shield them. Unfortunately that's only going to happen after "Web 2.0" sites endure the same attacks and growing pains that e-mail went through in the '90s.

So while Writely.com may be cool for writing and sharing "to do" lists, you might want to hold off on storing your valuable documents out there.