contributed by nvirb
David L. Smith, who was arrested for creating and releasing the Melissa virus in April, plead guilty on Thursday to a second-degree charge of computer theft. The charge covers intercepting computer communications and damages to computer systems or data and is punishable by 5 to 10 years in jail and up to a $150,000 fine.

"Yes, I admit those events occurred as a result of the spread of the Melissa virus. But I did not expect or anticipate the amount of damage that took place. When I posted the virus, I expected that any financial injury would be minor and incidental. In fact, I included features designed to prevent substantial damage. I had no idea there would be such profound consequences to others." - David Smith (quote taken from ZD Net)

ZD Net
Reuters
Associated Press - via ABC News

contributed by Evil Wench
It has been standard practice of the Department of Defense to report the names and social security numbers of officers getting promoted to the US Senate. This information is then entered into the Federal Register for all to see. Several of these officers have become victims of credit card fraud. The Secret Service is investigating. The Pentagon said it is no longer providing Social Security numbers to Congress. (Thats just brillant. Any foriegn power can now run credit checks on high ranking military personel. Wonderful.)

Nando Times
Public Sources for SSNs

contributed by Code Kid
Yet another government/industry partnership focusing on Internet security has been introduced, this time by the Commerce Department. This one hopes to spread information security best practices throughout the private sector. There are 65 companies and associations from almost every industry segment involved in the Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security. (Sounds familiar. Ummm does Infraguard or FidNET ring a bell? How many of these taxpayer funded organizations do we need?)

Federal Computer Week
Yahoo News

contributed by hero
Attrition.org is celebrating one year of free service to the net. Attrition is well known for its crypto/text/denial/advisory archives as well its errata sections. It is probably most well known for the excellent work they do on the Attrition Defacement mirror.

Attrition.org Birthday Message

contributed by AlienPlaque
The successor to the KGB, the Federal Security Service (FSB), has set up a network of data links connected to every major Russian Internet service provider that allows unlimited monitoring of private emails and electronic banking. The System for Operational Investigative Activities (SORM) was introduced quietly late last year by government regulations that needed no parliamentary approval.

The Times

contributed by Evil Wench
The technical details of the listening device recently found at the US State Department is starting to beavailable. The devices was battery operated and voice activated. It was about the size of a quarter, and used a frequency-hopping mechanism to which made it harder to detect. The device was located inside the chair rail, a piece of molding mounted on the walls at waist level. (Wow, thats pretty neat.)

ABC News