contributed by pyle
International espionage abounds, with businesses rather than governments increasingly becoming the primary target. A recent article reports that countries such as France, Russia, China, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Germany, Israel and Argentina have government-sponsored intelligence programs whose activities are meant to benefit business interests. Although the U.S. government may invoke similar spying tactics, they state that none of their findings are used for the benefit of U.S. companies.

NetworkFusion via CNN

contributed by laney
Using Defcon as a backdrop, Brendan I. Koerner's essay "Cry Hackerdom" examines the belief system of what he's deemed to be society's "true, democratic optimists." By doing so, he provides readers with some rather impressive rhetoric, in part of which he attempts to demystify the persona of a "hacker." Koerner points out that the term "hacker" has lost virtually all of its original meaning and instead has become a word used interchangeably with "criminal" which is completely inaccurate.

Feed Magazine

contributed by pyle and iron river
Yetzer-Ra acts as escort to "Click+Drag," a popular Manhattan hotspot whose hedonistic nightlife attracts numerous members of the tech sector. Yetzer-Ra kibitzes about the nature of his plight and the importance of open environments. The importance of scruples is also discussed.

Computerworld via CNN

contributed by harvest
During last month's meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Prague, some malcontents protested the old fashioned way -- by putting feet on street. But some chose a more modern method. A French group named the Federation of Random Action and its affiliate toyZtech reportedly coordinated denial of service attacks against imf.org and worldbank.org. A chat room "toy" apparently launched small nuisance attacks against the target web servers each time key words were typed. The effects were minor.

The Village Voice

contributed by weld pond
It's that time again folks. Summercon 2001, one of the oldest security related conferences in existence, will be making its annual appearance June 1-3, 2001. Summercon will be held at Amsterdam's Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky. The deadline for paper submissions is November 30, 2000.

Summercon's Site