contributed by Everyone
In an article that just about everyone has already read Winn Schwartau further spreads some Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. He claims that vigilantism or the act of striking back against crackers over the net is rising and is being approved by law enforcement. First I must question the liabilities of 'striking back' in this age of IP Spoofing it is almost impossible for a corporation to follow a cyber attacker all the way back to his origin during the time he is on line. None of the high ranking officials in law enforcement that I know would ever condone vigilantism either on or off the record as this article claims. The numerous quotes in this article that are unverifiable leave a very bad taste in my mouth

CNN

contributed by demoniz
The Legion of Underground has apparently retracted its statements about declaring War on China and Iraq. They are now claiming that the the original IRC press conference was a hoax and that individual identities had been faked. You be the judge.

Wired
HNN Archive for January 10, 1999
Complete history of the LoU-China-Iraq War - Updated

contributed by tfish
Micrsoft WindowsNT has failed the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-1 certification. This certification is required for products that are to be sold to the US and Canadian governments. Microsoft says that it may have to 'redesign' the operating system.

NW Fusion
(Requires Registration. I don't usually link to sites that ask for info first but I thought this story was important enough to do so.)
L0pht Heavy Industries - Read Cyber UL for more information about FIPS and security ratings.

contributed by FeArM0Ng
A former commissioner for the Federal Trade Commision has claimed that there is a network of black marketers on the net who are stealing and selling personal info to mass marketers. I guess people think this is news, It is just a part of being on the net. This is why many hackers use aliases.

Wired

contributed by Oday
After an initial boycott last month French Internet users are calling for a second boycott against France Telecom on Januray 31st to protest the high access fees.

Wired

contributed by Wacko
Sarah Flannery, a 16 year old teenager in Ireland, has developed a brand new encryption algorithm. The new algorithm is said to be thirty times faster and just as strong as RSA. She has named the code Cayley-Purser after Arthur Cayley, a 19th century Cambridge expert on matrices, and Michael Purser, a cryptographer from Trinity College, Dublin, who provided her inspiration.

BBC

contributed by proff
A secret report to the Australian Federal Police (ASIO), and the National Crime Authority, would have turned desktop PCs into covert listening devices. HNN reported on this last week but the mainstream is a little slow, besides maybe people missed it with all the LoU news.

The Austrailian
Walsh Report
HNN Archive for January 7, 1999

contributed by Meeboj
Furbies have been banned by the NSA for perceived national threat issues. Public Enemy number 1 has been banned from the NSA building in Maryland for its ability to repeat what it hears.

BBC