NETSCAPE CHANGES THE LOCKS

TIME's Joshua Quittner says a serious security flaw found in Netscape, the most popular World Wide Web browser, probably won't cast a pall over emerging electronic commerce. Two University of California at Berkeley graduate students have found that a knowledgeable computer user could crack the system in less then a minute, potentially giving users access to information such as credit card or bank account numbers. Netscape Communications plans to rush out a secure version of the software next week. "This is an interesting academic exercise, but online transactions are still a relatively minor part of the Internet," Quittner says. "Just knowing someone's credit card number won't get someone very far -- credit card companies have become much more sophisticated about protecting against fraud. Mainly, it's just a good thing they are exposing these flaws now, before commerce becomes a big part of the Net."