contributed by Space Rogue
Yesterday Microsoft placed a Windows 2000 machine outside of its firewall and asked people to break into it. Today the folks at LinuxPPC have issued a similar challenge except they are offering the machine itself to the person who breaks in while Microsoft has not offered any incentive. The Microsoft site was down most of the day yesterday and the LinuxPPC site was unreachable this morning when we attempted to check it. Companies need to realize that these "Hacker Challenges" are not valid testing methods and are nothing more than publicity stunts. If you want a valid security assessment then spend the money and hire an independent third party to review your product.

Windows 2000 Test
Linux PPC
ZD Net

See also a previous article in the HNN Buffer Overflow section
The Hacker Challenge

contributed by Code Kid
A small company in Sydney Australia, called Creative Digital Technology, has claimed to have created software that will make web pages on IIS Servers 'hack proof'. The software, known as SecurePage digitally signs all pages and then compares those signatures against encrypted master copies. If the signature changes then the web server will stop serving the page. They have issued a challenge to get people to try and break the system, however, the information on the challenge is difficult to find.

The Australian
Internet News
Creative Digital Technology

contributed by Frank
The organizers of CCC Camp continue their preparations for this weekend. It is expected that 3000 people will descend onto a field outside Berlin where they will share secrets of technology and discuss issues that affect us all. And pick a few locks.

Wired
HNN Cons Page

contributed by Hex_Edit
A very interesting perspective about why some people do what they do has been sent to us by a member of the the group "HackCanada". Hex_Edit asks whether it is for the knowledge, just to post graffiti, testing security, or some other reason that drives some members of the community.

Hackers... Those Who Would Be Gods[why.html - MISSING]

contributed by LouisC
A new mailing list for the discussion of cryptography issues in the European Union has been started. You can subscribe by sending email to majordomo@fitug.de that contains the words "subscribe eucrypto"

JYA.com

contributed by Dr. Mudge
Weird Al's latest video "Its All About the Pentiums" from his latest album "Running With Scissors" should be available online today at 3:30 PM (EST). It will first be debuted on MTV's Total Request Live. "Your waxing Your Modem to Make it Go Faster", "Your about as useless as jpegs to Helen Keller", "You say your C=64 is really neato? What kind of chip you got in there a Dorito?" This album rocks.

Running With Scisssors- via Amazon.com
Weird Al Yankovich
Its All About the Pentiums

contributed by Space Rogue
How a (nameless) ISP can take more than 48 hours to propagate a route change boggles the mind. How they can have remote routers (in another state) that are not remotely administratible boggles the mind. We hope to have these issues fixed sometime today. We hope our mail will stop bouncing sometime today. But then these are only hopes.