(The National Post, 4 April) Members of the hacker think-tank L0pht Heavy Industries have transformed themselves into a legitimate computer security firm backed by $10-million in venture capital. L0pht officially shut its doors on the weekend and its members were absorbed into @Stake, which aims to be a mainstream Internet security firm. (Newsbytes, 5 April) MasterCard has taken the unusual step of offering a free virus repair service as a key feature in its small business card package. The card issuer has tapped Vipro Corp. for the service. Vipro's Virus Service Plan is billed as providing computer users "coverage" from destructive viruses. If a virus damages a plan holder's computer, Vipro will repair it at no charge to the member. The service, which is designed for consumers and small business owners, includes a copy of Norton AntiVirus as standard, as well as online and telephone technical support. In the event that Norton AntiVirus and/or support from a telephone tech support person cannot assist the user in getting his/her PC back up and running, Vipro says it has a network of more than 7,000 local repair centers available across the U.S. (Mobile Register, 28 March) Brian Michael Jacobs, 23, of Mobile, Alabama, faces federal charges for alleged computer hacking. Jacobs was arraigned by a U.S. Magistrate on 22 March on charges that on 16 May 16, 1999, he "knowingly transmitted code and commands to the computer of an Internet Service Provider (ISP)" which resulted in more than $5,000 in damage. The combined charges carry up to five years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines. In the computer world, Jacobs assumed the code name Blaxthos, court documents state. The court scheduled Jacobs' case for May. (AP, 4 April) Computer programs used to scramble electronic messages are protected by the First Amendment because those codes are a means of communication among programmers, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. Raymond Vasvari, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said the ruling was the first time a federal appellate court has decided that computer programming languages are protected by the First Amendment. (London Stock Exchange/Independent (UK), 5 April) Due to unspecified technical problems, which are currently being investigated, the opening of the London Stock Exchange markets has been postponed. A further announcement is expected to be made as soon as possible. On Monday, the FTSE-100 reportedly had similar problems and was unable to publish indices, but this is the first time that the stock market itself has had to delay its start. The electronic feed, which tells dealers the prices of shares, is being blamed by one source for today's problems. (Newsbytes, 4 April) In Thailand, a body to investigate cyber criminals is being set up in response to the wave of publicity Internet misconduct has received of late. Police Col Yanaphon Youngyuen of the Police Information System Centre said that a Committee for the Suppression of Computer Crimes had been formed by the Police Department to tackle crimes conducted by way of technology, especially through the Internet. While the new force is still being proposed as a formal committee, Yanaphon said that it was already very much in action. ?There are definitely more computer and Internet-related crimes, which means that we need a formal body to deal with these rapid developments,? Yanaphon explained. (FBIS, 5 April) China has unveiled a new set of regulations that will help strengthen the security protection of its computer information system. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security and the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision jointly issued the rules that will come into effect on January 1, 2001. The rules, called classification standards of computer information system security protection, will help to tackle computer related crimes such as hack attacks, computer viruses and the spread of harmful information, officials said. (FBIS, 4 April) In Russia, if your computer is connected to the Internet and your phone is not fitted with special protective ?gizmos,? no one can guarantee your information security. The license of every telecommunications operator contains so called special conditions regulating his relations with the Russian special services. At the moment, the draft law ?On SORM-2" (on the system of operational investigation measures in data transmission networks), which has been under vigorous discussion of late, implies total ?eavesdropping? on the Internet. Under this draft law all Internet providers must grant the FSB (Federal Security Service) access to their users? email and other confidential information which they handle. IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are not using HushMail, this message could have been read easily by the many people who have access to your open personal email messages. Get your FREE, totally secure email address at http://www.hushmail.com.
