September 30, 1999 Congress urged to fight online stalking Bill targets those who use e-mail, phone to harass After she complained about an ad from a literary agency, writer Jayne Hitchcock endured more than three years of harassment, hundreds of e-mail messages, hang-up telephone calls and phone calls from strange men wanting to share their sexual fantasies with her. To cope with her fears, she was forced to seek counseling with a psychotherapist. http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/010516.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Maryland makes out-of-state liquor sales a felony On Friday, a new law will take effect in Maryland that will raise the penalty from misdemeanor to felony for any out-of-state liquor or wine dealer that ships alcoholic beverages into that state. In taking this action, Maryland joins a growing number of states that have increased penalties against out-of-state alcohol beverage sellers. It is part of a backlash against the escalating number of Internet and catalog merchants skirting state beverage taxes and sales restrictions, state and industry officials said. http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9909293mdlaw - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mitre unveils security 'dictionary' In an effort to find common ground for different vulnerability databases and security tools, the Mitre Corp. today rolled out its Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) effort. The CVE is a public dictionary that consists of standard names and descriptions for more than 300 security vulnerabilities and exposures. Common names will allow data to cross separate databases and tools, officials said. http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9909293cved - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Justice Dept. Gives $300,000 To ITAA For Alliance High-tech industry trade group the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) has received $300,000 from the US Justice Department to support the Cybercitizen Partnership, a public-private high-tech alliance to support "computer ethics and civic responsibility." http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/99/137059.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Singapore Teen Sentenced For TV Website Hack A fifteen year old Singapore boy has been sentenced to a year's probation and 100 hours community service for hacking into the Television Corporation of Singapore's (TCS) Website earlier this year. The boy pleaded guilty to four counts of unauthorized entry and password disclosure in Singapore's Juvenile Court. http://www.32bitsonline.com/news.php3?news=news/199909/nb1999092914&page=1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Teacher Loses License For E-Mail Harassment A teacher in a small Ontario town has reportedly lost his license to teach following allegations he sent inappropriate e-mails to a 14-year-old female student. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/99/137072.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Information Warfare, Cyberterrorism and Cybercrime -- A special three-part series By The Monitor's electronic edition's associate editor Tom Regan. Part One: Information Warfare -- Wars of the future... today http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/06/24/fp13s1-csm.shtml Part Two: Cyberterrorism -- When terrorists turn to the Internet http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/07/01/fp17s1-csm.shtml Part Three: Cybercrime -- Logging on to cybercrime http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/07/08/fp16s1-csm.shtml - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New security strategy for new threats This article is an excerpt from 'New World Coming: American Security in the 21st Century.' Released Sept. 15, it is the first of three reports by the US Commission on National Security, co-chaired by former US Senators Gary Hart, a Democrat, and Warren Rudman, a Republican. http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/09/29/p9s2.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New Yankelovich Internet Survey Shows Big Disconnect Between Parents and Teens New Cyber Safety Network Formed to Help Parents Connect with Teens to Openly Discuss Best Uses of the Internet The Safe America Foundation, WiredKids, a new organization founded by cyber safety expert Parry Aftab, and their corporate partners announced today the formation of the Cyber Safety Network to help parents and teens openly discuss the best uses of the Internet. http://www.internetwire.com/technews/tn/tn984488.dsl - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1on1Mail.com Announces Strategy to Fill Hotmail Cracks Secure e-mail technology provider of "self-destructing e-mail" fame to build custom encrypted channels for strategic partners. NetNames.com, the first to offer its client base free highest level secure communications over its own custom channel, will also bundle the technology as part of its global domain name registry package. http://www.internetwire.com/technews/tn/tn984463.dsl - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hacker changes mind about switching off Belgium BRUSSELS, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A computer hacker has backed down from a threat to break into the computers of Belgian electricity generator Electrabel on Wednesday afternoon and cut the nation's power supply, Electrabel said. The hacker, who calls himself ReDaTtAcK 2, phoned Electrabel, which has a virtual monopoly on Belgium's electricity market, to withdraw the threat. ``I had this guy on the phone,'' spokesman Patrick De Vos told Reuters. ``He withdrew his threat. It's a non-event.'' The hacker launched a crusade earlier in the summer, attacking websites in an attempt to alert Belgium to the security risks of the Internet. De Vos said the hacker had threatened to break into Electrabel's computers to prove the system's vulnerability. ``He would like to try and find a hole and insert his business card and say this is a failure in the system,'' De Vos said. He said the company had taken the threat seriously but did not believe its system had ever been at risk.