ENIGMA MACHINE STOLEN FROM BLETCHLEY PARK 2 April 2000 Yesterday afternoon, an Enigma three rotor cypher machine was stolen from the mansion at Bletchley Park [UK], home of the world war 2 codebreakers and birthplace of the communications revolution. The machine, whose value is difficult to assess, appears to have been taken from a display case while the Park was open to visitors. It was used during the war to protect German secret messages. Enigma machines exchange hands for cash values starting at several thousand pounds. Trust Director Christine Large said, "This is a selfish act, calculated to deprive the visitors and students at Bletchley Park of the chance to enjoy and appreciate a unique piece of history. The Trust will be deeply grateful for any information that may lead to the return of the machine." FULL STORY: http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/press.htm ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* Hackers gather at Israel conference By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press JERUSALEM (March 31, 2000 11:25 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Hackers from around the world overcame interrogations, censorship and an all-around bad reputation to hold Israel's first hacker convention, wrapping up the two-day conference Thursday without a glitch. The 350-strong gathering was the first of its kind since the Yahoo! and eBay commercial sites were crippled in February, reminding companies across the globe of the dangers hackers can pose. At the request of lawmakers, Israeli police had considered banning the conference, but Attorney General Eliyakim Rubinstein gave the go-ahead. One of the original hackers, John Draper of Fremont, Calif., said the hackers wanted to put a better face on the practice. "A hacker is a person who is developing programs to make them better," Draper told The Associated Press. "They aren't the kind of people who break into computer systems. That's a cracker." FULL STORY: http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/0,1643,500187324-500250833-501271402- 0,00.html ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* 3 in 5 British firms suffer security breach Mon, 03 Apr 2000 15:14:16 GMT Will Knight As many as three in five British businesses have experienced a computer-related security breach in the last two years, according a new technical report into information security to be published next week. The growing number of high-profile computer hacking cases, especially those involving the theft of credit-card and other personal information, are apparently just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to malicious or unauthorised computer activity. The Information Security Breaches Survey 2000,commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry as well a number of major British businesses, canvassed 1000 "demographically representative" British organisations on their computer security history and found evidence of malicious hacking on a grand scale. FULL STORY: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2000/13/ns-14548.html ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* Canada Called Hotbed of Cyberterrorism By Martin Stone, Newsbytes March 29, 2000 An American intelligence agency has determined that up to 80 percent of foreign attacks on US computers either originate or pass through Canada. The claim follows suspicions that some recent hacker attacks were routed through Canadian computers. A weekend article by the Ottawa Citizen newspaper said a report prepared last year for Canada's Department of National Defence quotes the US Defence Intelligence Agency, the military counterpart to the CIA, as warning that Canada is seen as a "Zone of Vulnerability." The US Defence Intelligence Agency estimates that a full 80 percent of the attacks upon US systems originate in or pass through Canada, the report stated. The Citizen noted that the report, prepared by Canadian military and intelligence agencies, including the ultra-secret Communications Security establishment, further said, "It is the assessment of the (Canadian government's) Intelligence Policy Group that the United States and our allies will expect Canada to participate in combating and reducing the cyber threat." FULL STORY: http://www.currents.net/newstoday/00/03/29/news1.html ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* Cyber Patrol case raises reverse engineering issues By Ann Harrison 03/31/2000 A federal ruling on the use of Internet blocking software is raising questions about the power of U.S. courts to force the removal of information from Web sites. The case, which involves Cyber Patrol, could also have implications for the reverse engineering of commercial software and attempts by companies to halt the practice, which they say damages the marketability of their products. Abner Germanow, research director for the Internet security program at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass., predicted that the Internet community will find itself increasingly confronted by untested court rulings governing reverse engineering and the freedom to post contested programs on the Web. FULL STORY: http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000331D072 ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* ********************************************************************* New breed of cop will patrol the Web after hackers Posted at 7:28 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 4, 2000 WASHINGTON -- KRT - The feds are creating a new force of cybercops to defend the Internet from hacker attacks like the blitzkrieg that paralyzed some Web sites this year. The cost of Internet crime has been growing rapidly. In 1996, cyber crooks and hackers caused an estimated $100 million in losses to businesses and institutions. Last year, those losses leaped to $266 million and threaten to reach $1 billion annually during the next decade. The number of computer intrusion cases investigated by the FBI have doubled since 1998 to 1,154. To counter Information Age criminals -- who include hackers, cyber terrorists, embezzlers, credit card frauds and pedophiles -- the Clinton administration wants $37 million from Congress to develop up to 10 new regional computer forensic labs and hire another 100 FBI Internet G-men and 68 U.S. attorneys to prosecute computer and child pornography crimes. FULL STORY: http://www.herald.com/content/today/business/brkdocs/031419.htm IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are not using HushMail, this message could have been read easily by the many people who have access to your open personal email messages. Get your FREE, totally secure email address at http://www.hushmail.com.
