CVE-1999-1400: The Economist screen saver 1999 with the "Password Protected" option enabled allows users with physical acc...

Security readout for executives and security teams

This is a legacy physical-access issue in The Economist 1999 screen saver. If its password protection is enabled, a person at the machine may bypass the screen saver and read files while the screen appears locked. The main business risk is confidentiality loss on old systems still relying on this screen saver for workstation locking. Exposure is most plausible on legacy Windows systems where The Economist 1999 screen saver is installed and used as the lock mechanism. Modern environments are unlikely to be affected unless preserving old workstation images, kiosks, or lab systems. Treat this as a legacy hygiene issue, not an internet-scale emergency. Priority rises if regulated data, shared workstations, kiosks, or preserved legacy systems still use this screen saver for access control. Mitigation focus: Identify and remove The Economist 1999 screen saver from managed systems.; Use operating-system native workstation locking instead of third-party screen saver password protection.; Check vendor or archival guidance for any historical official remediation..

Prepared

Jul 1, 2026, 08:44 UTC (UTC+00:00)

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.