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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2003 U.S. Awards Contracts to Build Global Network Chinese Firms to Develop Mobile-Phone Chip Internet Protocol Version 6 Planned Israel Turns from Microsoft to Open Source ALSO************************************************** October Hack of E-Voting Company Investigated Bank of England Customers Receive Phishing E-Mail Blackmailers Use E-Mail to Reach Victims U.S. AWARDS CONTRACTS TO BUILD GLOBAL NETWORK The U.S. government has awarded four contracts to six companies to build a global optical and data network, according to a statement by the Defense Information Systems Agency. The contracts are estimated to be worth $400 million or more initially and could stretch to 10 years with options. The companies awarded the contracts are Ciena Corporation, Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Qwest Communications, Sprint, and Sycamore Networks. Sprint and Qwest, the prime suppliers in their contracts, have subcontracted work to Sycamore and Cisco, respectively. New York Times, 31 December 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/31/technology/31telecoms.html CHINESE FIRMS TO DEVELOP MOBILE-PHONE CHIP The official Xinhua News Agency announced that three Chinese companies will develop a mobile-phone chip based on the Chinese government-backed time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) standard. Commercial production is scheduled for September 2004. The government is testing several phone-chip standards preparatory to the implementation of third-generation mobile phone networks. Wall Street Journal, 31 December 2003 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB107284705243078800,00.html INTERNET PROTOCOL VERSION 6 PLANNED According to a story in the Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shumbun, Japan, China, and South Korea are planning to develop Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the next-generation Internet standard, by 2005. Current IPv4-based Internet technology is dominated by the United States. A number of U.S. companies and the U.S. Department of Defense already support IPv6, with the DoD planning to switch to it by 2008. Japan's Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts, and Telecommunications has allocated $18,643,000 annually for a Japanese IPv6 network to connect local governments, corporations, and households in Japan. Similar networks to be built in Korea and China would then reportedly be connected to the Japanese network. A representative from Hitachi, a Japanese electronics company, said that the governments of Japan, China, and South Korea had discussed IPv6, but the representative knew of no recent developments and said Hitachi had no specific terms for co-development. CNET, 30 December 2003 http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5134110.html?tag=nefd_top ISRAEL TURNS FROM MICROSOFT TO OPEN SOURCE The government of Israel suspended purchases of Microsoft's productivity software and said that it planned to explore less costly open source alternatives. In the near future, however, government agencies will continue to use Microsoft Office products without upgrading to newer versions. According to an anonymous Finance Ministry spokeswoman, the move was purely economic. Microsoft declined to comment on the decision. San Jose Mercury News, 31 December 2003 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7605219.htm Also************************************ OCTOBER HACK OF E-VOTING COMPANY INVESTIGATED VoteHere, an electronic voting software company, confirmed that its network was hacked in October. The company said it had identified a suspect and turned the case over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, and U.S. Attorney's Office for investigation. VoteHere CEO Jim Adler called the network breach a crime like breaking and entering, possibly politically motivated, and claimed that it is evidence the system is working, since the intrusion was detected and investigated quickly. The company's verification system works on top of other voting systems. VoteHere has posted some of its technical documents on the Web at VerifiedVoting.org and has pledged to share its source code when it completes an internal review in a few months. ZDNet, 30 December 2003 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5134106.html BANK OF ENGLAND CUSTOMERS RECEIVE PHISHING E-MAIL The Bank of England alerted customers to the first e-mail scam using its name. An e-mail purportedly from the bank went to at least 100,000 people, advising them to open an attachment to remove snooping software that might be lurking on their computers. The UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit has launched an investigation, which has so far failed to determine the purpose of the e-mail attachment. No customers have reported problems after opening it. New Scientist, 31 December 2003 http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994524 BLACKMAILERS USE E-MAIL TO REACH VICTIMS Blackmailers using e-mail have targeted corporate and home computer users, claiming to have access to their PCs and threatening to delete information or plant child pornography files on their hard drives if not paid. This kind of extortion represents a shift from big companies to individual users, often office workers. Anyone connected to the Internet is a potential target. The money demanded is often around $20-$30, and the messages are sent in mass e-mailings to large e-mail lists. People who receive such e-mails are advised not to respond but to inform the authorities. CNN, 29 December 2003 http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/12/29/cyber.blackmail.reut/ ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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