To be fair the password comes from apple. Any of the JB apps I have seen explicitly tell you that enabling ssh is a bad idea unless you know what you are doing and only if you are going to change the password. Though the fact that the app does not prompt you to change the password right then and there is lazy at best.
Ah, I didn't realize. So the shell password already exists and is "alpine", but the SSH app just enables SSH?
[edit, yeah, googled it and everything...]
s/unlocked/jailbroken/
There's a difference: http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Unlock
2) They wait until the 6th paragraph to mention that you need to have the default password still enabled.
3) The content is misleading on important points: Users who have installed SSH and not changed the password are especially at risk. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they are the only ones at risk. Saying they are especially at risk implies that others are at risk as well.
IIRC, the initial Astley wallpaper worm had the same requirements and was reported just as poorly by the BBC.
I'd also like to point out that releasing SSH software that provides a universal default password is idiotic.
Also, if I worked for Apple I might be tempted to say "this is what happens when you leave the protective walls of the App Store". Just sayin...