contributed by Evil Wench
The US attorney general, Janet Reno, has proposed the creation of a national computer crime-fighting network dubbed LawNet. The network would consist of a new nationwide computer system for information sharing and the creation of new forensic computer labs around the country. The network would work with law enforcement agencies on the federal state and local level.

LA Times
Associated Press - via MSNBC

contributed by Evil Wench
Details of a police investigation that have recently been released indicate that persons, who have connections with 'Global Hell', have breached numerous ISPs. This has caused PacBell internet to force many of its users to change their passwords. Other organizations targeted included law offices, universities and backbone providers. Only one suspect is currently in custody. (Unless PacBell is sure that it is has plugged the hole through which the intruders gained access, and they have verified all accounts as legitimate, haveing users change passwords is pointless.)

ZD Net

contributed by Evil Wench
The compromised password of an administrator at a New Jersey ISP, HighSpeedNet, allowed a malicious intruder to change the domain entries of several sites including Emory University, Exodus Communications, Colorado University, Corecomm and Dreamcast. Most sites restored service within a few hours.

C|Net

contributed by acidkick
A group of 30 online activists calling themselves 'white-hat' hackers have banded together in an effort to shut down child pornography sites on the web. They claim to have removed 20 servers through legal means and have erased the hard drives of another 13 servers overseas. (While their legal methods should be applauded the unauthorised destruction of information no matter how vile should be condemned.)

ComputerWorld

contributed by Evil Wench
An Energy Department report on the sale of a decommissioned supercomputer (Intel Paragon XPS) by Sandia National Laboratories to a Chinese national has been released. The sale, in 1998, worried officials that the machine could end up in China. The machine was later repurchased for three times the original sale price. The report indicates that security was not compromised but does paint a disturbing picture of how sensitive equipment was handled at the lab.

Washington Post
HNN Archive for August 2, 1999

contributed by Ryan
Kevin Mitnick is scheduled to give and interview to 60 Minutes reporters today. The interview should air on 60 Minutes on or about January 23, 2000. Kevin is scheduled to be released from Lompoc Prison on January 21st, 2000. It is felt that Kevin will discuss what he did, and the government's actions. It is thought that since Kevin no longer has a trial hanging over his heard he will be a little more revealing than in the past.

60 Minutes

contributed by evenprime
Researchers at nCipher in Cambridge, England have found a way to easily find encryption keys on target systems. The technology centers on this: There is a general assumption that encryption keys will be impossible to find because they are buried in servers crowded with similar strings of code. What the researchers discovered, however, is that encryption keys are more random than other data stored in servers. To find the encryption key, one need only search for abnormally random data.

ZD Net