contributed by Dildog
As expected, The White House has relaxed U.S. controls on the export of data encryption technology. On the surface it would appear that the high-tech industry, Internet users, and privacy advocates have won the debate, arguing that the export rules hand the entire market to non-U.S. companies. But who really wins here? The only major change is that the export limit has been raised from 56-bit to 64-bit. Law Enforcement agencies have said that they will still push for Key escrow. And what will now become of the bill currently in the House, authored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), that would relax crypto exports even further? Was this announcement a preemptive strike by the Clinton Administration to take the steam out from under this bill?

C|Net
Wired

contributed by McIntyre
Network Solutions attempted to offer a free email service to all of its customers yesterday. Unfortunately they totally screwed up the implementation. First, the default passwords on these accounts where relatively simple and easily guessable. Second, they emailed those passwords in the clear to their customers. Third, they made it almost impossible to remove yourself from their spam list. If you did opt to remove yourself you would no longer receive real info from Network Solutions about your domains. It is unknown what Network Solutions has done to rectify this situation but the free email site is not currently open.

InfoWorld
Attrition - Security Advisory

contributed by donalddick
A new remote administration tool, similar to B02K or NetBus, has been released. This new client server based tool, for 95, 98 or NT 4.0, can allow full access to the File system, Processes and threads, the Registry, system info and a lot more.

Donald Dick

contributed by TurTleX
The US Federal Communications Commission agreed on Wednesday to allow cellular telephone companies to include GPS technology in their phones. Some uses for this will be to help lost travelers or provide directions to a destination. The primary reason for this, however, is to pinpoint 911 callers for emergency services. (Those of us who are a little paranoid see a few other possible uses. Glad I don't have a cell phone.)

Wired

contributed by Code Kid
Four students of North View Secondary in Singapore shoulder surfed a password from a teacher two years ago. Some of those students then used that password for their own use. One student, no longer in school, has been sentenced to five weeks in jail, another is awaiting sentencing.

The Strait Times

contributed by Code Kid
A poll of 300 Microsoft Windows NT administrators found that 88 percent claimed accidental deletions of computer files by in-house workers caused more problems than viruses. Only 3 percent of the administrators said viruses were a major problem.

Chicago Tribune

contributed by Weld Pond
A new movie by Hans-Christian Schmid entitled '23' uses the stereotypical, media perpetuated image of the 'hacker' as a small-time gangster and global terrorist. Supposedly based on true events, "23" details how two anti-nuclear protesters break into computers, steal data and later sell it to the KGB. (Yeah, I'll wait in line to see this drivel.)

The Boston Phoenix