Liudvikas Bukys

Viruses? Feh! Fear the Trojan. Viruses and e-mails get all the attention and fearful reaction, but hidden programs known as Trojans can be far more devastating — to computers and lives. Two new ones are on the loose. By Michelle Delio.

When a user runs the innocent-looking program that he or she has downloaded, or clicks on a link on a malicious website or in an HTML-formatted e-mail, a Trojan program like BackOrifice or SubSeven infects their system.

Within the past week security firms have issued warnings about two Trojans: Y3K Rat 1.6, and W32.Eurosol.

Y3K Rat is a revamped version of an old Trojan, now capable of ruining computer hard drives, breaking through many firewalls and transmitting cached passwords and copies of all activity on an infected computer to the attacker by e-mail.

W32.Eurosol steals users’ account information from a WebMoney account, an international banking system that allows those not wanting to expose their credit card numbers, or those who don’t have credit, to make purchases online.

[via Wired News]

Social Security numbers at risk on the Net. CNET May 23 2001 12:50PM ET [Computer security news]

Java-based AirPort configuration utility [MacNN]

FEED Magazine: David Gelernter’s New Desktop. Users can browse this stream of cards or search by keyword, topic, or file type. Scopeware is an elegant alternative to the current desktop, an interface that, in Gelernter’s view, is still mired in a bygone era when megabytes were scarce and CPUs lethargic. [via Tomalak’s Realm]

Microsoft warns of Word security issue [Security Focus]

EPIC - Use and Misuse of the Social Security Number. Testimony and Statement for the Record of Marc Rotenberg Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University Law Center Hearing on the Use and Misuse of the Social Security Number [Privacy Digest]

X Windows for OS X [via More Like This WebLog] [via Adam Curry: CurryDotCom]

Grab A Piece Of Big Blue’s Big Iron [Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters]

U.S. Wooing Student Hackers. The National Science Foundation will award scholarship money to computer security students who take government jobs upon graduation. Reactions are mixed. By Katie Dean. [Wired News]

Wireless Security: Guess Whos Listening. Forbes May 22 2001 10:26PM ET

Recently, two hackers using standard wireless products accessed e-mail and files from Sun Microsystems (nasdaq: SUNW - news - people) while sitting in the company’s parking lot. And at a federal agency, information sent wirelessly was intercepted and then used against the agency in a future negotiation.

[via Moreover Computer security news]