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News for
092300
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contributed by laney
A teenager known only as "c0mrade" because he is legally underage, has been
sentenced to six months in a juvenile facility for breaking into NASA and
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency computer systems. As part of his
sentencing conditions he is required to write apologies letters to the SA
for NASA and to the Secretary of Defense. Apparently, Janet Reno believes
the prosecution “shows that we take computer intrusion seriously and are
working with our law enforcement agencies to aggressively fight this
problem.”
Wired
AP
via ABC News
(new source)
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contributed by weld pond
Network Associates virus experts are demonstrating a new Palm virus called
Phage that they received from someone who claims to have found it on a web
site. The virus, which overwrites palm executables, has a fairly primitive
infection vector as it requires a human to hotsync or beam it onto the Palm.
Considering this is how DOS viruses started out, we can expect to see more
sophisticated Palm viruses in the future.
Vnunet.com
F-Secure
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contributed by weld pond
It appears file sharing won't be banned at some of the nation's top
universities. The bold move warrants a round of kudos to the sanity
displayed by these institutions of higher learning. Just imagine the
potential consequences of removing Napster access. What would be next? No
more ftp, nfs, or Windows networking? Next thing you know, VCRs and
photocopiers would disappear from the libraries and one could only begin to
fathom the fall out from that.
Boston
Globe
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contributed by laney
In a case unrelated to the NASA break in article above, Jason Diekman aka
"Shadow Knight" or "Dark Lord," is facing federal charges for allegedly
obtaining unauthorized access to government computers. It is believed that
Diekman compromised NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) computer system
and used it as host to much of the illegal activity he has been charged
with. Although highly unlikely, the 20 year old suspect could receive a
26-year sentence and well over half a million dollars in fines.
Reuters
via Excite News
(new source)
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contributed by iron river and pyle
It has been determined that a great deal of work needs to be done in order
to properly secure Veterans Administration computer systems after a security
audit conducted under the direction of the Department of Veterans Affairs’
inspector general was held. The revelation that medical and financial
information were stored in vulnerable atmospheres along with several other
extremely serious security issues discovered during the audit, makes it
inconceivable that the department spends $1 billion a year on technology.
Where does it all go?
Newsbytes
Federal
Computer Week
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