Back when this article was written, plaintext transport across the internet would not be viewed as nearly the kind of security issue it is today. This wasn't ju

Back when this article was written, plaintext transport across the internet would not be viewed as nearly the kind of security issue it is today. This wasn't just a shortcoming on Microsoft's part, it was a shortcoming on virtually the entire computer industry - which is, yes, why we are in the situation we're in today. Exactly none of the internet was designed to be secure by modern standards, and vulnerabilities that are obvious today were not obvious 20, 10, and even 5 years ago.