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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2006 DHS Grant Funds Open Source Research British Library Puts Mozart Online Government Closes Web Site Due to Security Flaw Guilty Plea Expected from Michigan Man for Spamming DHS GRANT FUNDS OPEN SOURCE RESEARCH The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded a $1.24 million, three-year contract to improve the quality of open source software. Given the growing reliance on open source technologies for infrastructure that underpins national security, DHS expects to see real benefits from the grant. The award will be split among Stanford University, Symantec, and Coverity, a firm that specializes in code analysis. Rob Rachwald, senior director of marketing at Coverity, said, "The DHS in many ways is obviously brokering this and they are the main beneficiary." For the grant, Coverity will identify security flaws and risks; Stanford will offer academic analysis of trends and provide opinions about the relative security of various technologies; and Symantec will provide consulting on how governmental agencies can incorporate open source products in a secure fashion into their own applications. Internet News, 11 January 2006 http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3576886 BRITISH LIBRARY PUTS MOZART ONLINE In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of W. A. Mozart, the British Library has placed pages from the composer's "Catalogue of Aall My Works" online. Mozart compiled the diary of sorts between February 1784 and December 1791, making entries for 145 of his works. For each entry, Mozart wrote the title, date it was composed, and instruments that should perform it. For some works, the composer also identified who commissioned it, where it was composed, and singers who performed it. Mozart then added to the diary the opening bars of each work included. For the project, the British Library commissioned the Royal College of Music to record those opening bars for about half of the works in the diary. Visitors to the Web site can see Mozart's notes and click on a link to hear the recording of the opening. BBC, 12 January 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4602542.stm GOVERNMENT CLOSES WEB SITE DUE TO SECURITY FLAW A government Web site for contractors has been shut down due to a security flaw that allowed users of the site to see and change data submitted by other vendors. The General Services Administration (GSA) closed eOffer after a consultant reported the problem. Three weeks passed, however, between the reporting of the flaw and the shuttering of the site. The Web site was launched in 2004 as a means for vendors to bid electronically on government contracts for IT products and services. The flaw allowed site users to access and change corporate and financial information, potentially compromising the entire bidding process, according to security experts. The problem could also allow corporate espionage. The GSA said there was no evidence that the site had been abused by either authorized or unauthorized users. The agency said the delay in shutting down the site was caused by the time that was required to process the report. New York Times, 13 January 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/13/technology/13secure.html GUILTY PLEA EXPECTED FROM MICHIGAN MAN FOR SPAMMING A Detroit-area man is expected to plead guilty to violations of the CAN-SPAM Act for his part in a spam racket that prosecutors say sent millions of illegal messages over computer systems belonging to Ford, Unisys, the U.S. Army Information Center, and others. Daniel Lin plead guilty to fraud and other charges in the deal and will face up to two years in prison. Prior to the deal, Lin could have been sentenced to 10 years for his part in the spam scheme. Three other men were also charged in the original complaint in April 2004, which were the first such charges under the federal law to limit spam. The men reportedly earned about $100,000 from their spam-related activities. CNET, 12 January 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-7350_3-6026708.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 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] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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