Network Security Roundup for October 16, 2003

TechNewsWorld: Wintel Monoculture, Lamarckian Biology and Bill Joy16-Oct-03 11:30 ET

Story Highlights:“In an interview with Bill Joy headlined “Joy after Sun,” Fortune Magazine mentions Joy’s famous “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us” article from Wired. In that interview, Joy makes it clear that he continues to be deeply concerned about the risks associated with unplanned and uncontrolled interactions among multiple computing objects such as nanomachines.”

Full Story on TechNewsWorld

Story Highlights:“The nature of the mysterious components of the ‘security update’ to ship with Windows XP Service Pack 2 is becoming clearer, and SP2 itself could be becoming nearer. Steve Ballmer told us approximately what the update was supposed to do, but not how, in his security manifesto last week, but Paul Thurrott has some specifics, the most important being that the update to the built-in firewall will include features from Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server, including outbound scanning capabilities.”

Full Story on The Register

Story Highlights:“Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles will ask a court to set aside the conviction of a man who served 16 months in federal prison for blowing the whistle on an ex-employer’s cybersecurity holes, officials said Tuesday. Without providing details, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles confirmed that the office’s appellate division will move this week to vacate Bret McDanel’s felony conviction.”

Full Story on SecurityFocus

Story Highlights:“A pioneering attempt to overturn the U.S. government’s Cold War-era laws restricting the publication of some forms of encryption code ended quietly Wednesday when a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit — but only after assurances that the anticrypto laws would not be enforced.”

Full Story on CNET

Story Highlights:“Employee blunders and hardware and software failures are more of a worry for IT directors than the much-hyped threat of terrorism when it comes to disaster recovery planning, according to a new survey. Half of the 877 IT directors interviewed for the research cited human-related issues — accidental errors and malicious behaviour — as the main threat to the security of their business. Almost two-thirds also cited hardware failure, while 59 percent said software failure and viruses are a significant threat.”

Full Story on Silicon.com