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NSF security advice hits home

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National Science Foundation employees received expert advice on securing their home computers at the agency's first Computer Security Awareness Day. The program Monday offered advice on how to use firewalls and protect home computers from intrusion as well as the best . . .

DOD network attacks level off

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The number of detected attacks on unclassified Defense Department networks has leveled off this year, according to the commander who's in charge of protecting them. The number of detected "cyber events" on DOD's Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network increased dramatically . . .

Security plan OK’d

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The federal CIO Council last week released the final version of an initial framework designed to let agencies determine where improvements are needed in their security programs. The council's security subcommittee developed the Federal Information Technology Security Assessment Framework to provide . . .

Next president urged to boost government computer security

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The nation's top cyberspace official Friday called on the next president to boost the government's computer security to prevent a "digital Pearl Harbor." "What this presidential election year showed is that statistically improbable events can occur," Richard Clarke of the . . .

FAA urged to step up computer security efforts

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In the wake of a September report identifying security lapses in the computer system of the Federal Aviation Administration, the General Accounting Office Wednesday published official recommendations on how the agency might increase its security. . . .

Report: Lax Cybercrime Laws Threaten E-Commerce

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McConnell International, a security consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., found that 9 of 52 countries it studied have extended existing laws to cover most crimes in cyberspace, creating massive legal gaps that make prosecution of online crimes difficult. "The long . . .

U.S. embraces European cybercrime proposal

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The United States has endorsed the gist of a controversial European drive to tighten cybercrime laws over the protests of privacy, civil liberties and human rights advocates. The central provisions of the 41-nation Council of Europe's latest draft convention "are consistent . . .

Tech Groups Still Wary Of International Cyber-Crime Treaty

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A coalition of high-tech companies voiced concern over the Council of Europe's latest revisions to its international cyber-crime treaty, saying the modified language still imposes burdensome data preservation requirements on Internet service providers, and could potentially restrict legal activities online.. . .

Agency adds smart cards, PKI

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics is bolstering systems security by adding public-key infrastructure and providing smart cards to 1,500 employees. BLS will issue most of the cards to field workers who sign in to the agency's network remotely. Currently, remote users . . .

FBI steps up efforts to fight crimes related to computers

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The FBI has opened its first multiagency, multijurisdictional office aimed at combating the escalation of computer-related crimes and has assigned it the task of acquiring, archiving and analyzing digital evidence in support of criminal investigations. The new facility, located in San . . .

U.S. Army kick-starts cyberwar machine

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The U.S. military has a new mission: Be ready to launch a cyberattack against potential adversaries, some of whom are stockpiling cyberweapons. Such an attack would likely involve launching massive distributed denial-of-service assaults, unleashing crippling computer viruses or Trojans, and . . .

FBI 'Carnivore' report sides with government

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The FBI's controversial e-mail surveillance tool works about the way the bureau says and generally doesn't "overcollect" evidence, an independent reviewer of the system said. But his remarks failed to calm the fears of privacy advocates. Henry H. Perritt said . . .

Is there hope? Electronic Voting

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What is the feasibility of running national federal elections over the Internet? SunWorld guest writer Avi Rubin focuses on the limitations of the currently deployed infrastructure, with an emphasis on concerns over the security of voting hosts and the Internet itself. . . .

Washington boasts digital trust

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Washington state agencies doing business electronically with the private sector can now be assured companies and individuals are who they say they are. By December, the state's new security architecture and transaction gateway -- called Transact Washington -- will accept digital . . .

FBI aids local businesses with computer security

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Over the past year, FBI agent Steve McFall has investigated less than a dozen local cases of computer hacking. He suspects many more instances of corporate hacking occur in East Tennessee, however, but businesses either don't realize they can call the . . .

Better methods of voting debated

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Computers may not be the ultimate voting tools, despite their utility for other tasks, say experts in computer security and voting. "All voting systems, including the new ones being proposed -- the Internet and direct entry balloting, they all have flaws," . . .

Cybercrime Treaty Draft: Take 23

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The world's first cybercrime treaty is being hastily redrafted after Internet lobby groups assailed it as a threat to human rights that could have "a chilling effect on the free flow of information and ideas." The Council of Europe, a 41-nation . . .

News Burst: Cybersquad to combat computer crime

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The home secretary Jack Straw will announce plans to create a £20m National High-Tech Crime Unit Monday morning according to reports Sunday. The special unit, which will include members of the police, customs and excise, the National Crime . . .

Cybercrime treaty gets a makeover

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The world's first cybercrime treaty is being hastily redrafted after Internet lobby groups assailed it as a threat to human rights that could have "a chilling effect on the free flow of information and ideas." The Council of Europe, the 41-nation . . .