June 11, 2001, 12:07 pm
Law Review Article Says Port Scanning Illegal
Anonymous Coward writes: “The Journal of Technology Law and Policy has a good article on computer security and privacy. If you ignore the more metaphorical crap at the beginning of the article, the author marches through some laws that apply to the Internet and shows how they apply and why his way of deciding what kind of access to a computer breaks the law and what kinds don’t is better. (Its based on property and expectations of privacy.) It’s interesting to see the computer security from a lawyer’s point of view. Especially interesting are his claims that using nmap is illegal, despite the VC3 v. Moulton case. I’m not sure I agree with him, but he definitely makes a pretty sobering case.” Actually, I think the metaphors throughout this piece (not just at the beginning) are what make it interesting, and a big component of law is dealing with metaphors. This piece also collects in one place a lot of the cases dealing with computer law.
[Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters]
June 11, 2001, 10:07 am
Microsoft posts new Exchange patch.
MICROSOFT POSTED NEW versions of a patch late Friday to fix a flaw that it previously said only exists in its Exchange 2000 Server e-mail system. In the updated security bulletin, however, Microsoft added the more widely used Exchange 5.5 Server to the list of affected software.
See also: InfoWorld article on performance problems with Exchange 2000 and previous version of patch.
[via Computer security news]
June 7, 2001, 3:19 pm
MIT Technology Review: The Myth of “Internet Time”. Andrew Odlyzko. Internet time appeared to give special power to the first-mover advantage. A company that could quickly establish itself as a pets portal, for example, might be able to gain a high enough market share to discourage competition. [Tomalak’s Realm]
June 6, 2001, 4:06 pm
Transform Magazine: ‘Free’ Content Management. “Erik Josowitz, vice president of corporate strategy for Vignette, Austin, TX, grants that free or low-cost software might be fine for departmental use and simple sites. However, he warns, ‘they have no support model, no upgrade model and no long-term roadmap. When a CIO looks for a content management system, they look for long-term technical support and scalability across an enterprise.'” [Scripting News]
June 6, 2001, 2:04 pm
Hey check this out. They have a webcam at the top of the Empire State Building. [Scripting News]
June 5, 2001, 3:22 pm
Privacy News from Wired News – Say Ahh, Then Remain Silent. A little-noticed loophole in new medical privacy regulations allows law enforcement access to medical records without the patient’s consent. Will doctors soon be reading you your rights?
[ … ]
But there remains what appears to be a broad loophole in the regulations for state and federal law enforcement officials.
The regulations state that the only thing police or other law enforcement agents need to do to obtain medical records is assert their request for the records is necessary and relevant to specific investigations.
The rules don’t require permission from a judge, or even notification to the patient that medical records have been turned over to the police.
“Any cop can walk into any hospital, wave a badge and get records,” said a former congressional staffer named Bob Gellman, who has been involved in drafting medical privacy legislation for over 20 years.
“We’re in a position where your doctor may have to give you a Miranda Warning,” he said.
[Privacy Digest]
June 4, 2001, 5:07 pm
The Register (with pictures):
Where did the sentence “All your base are belong to us” come from?
It is an old Sega Megadrive game called Zero Wing….
two URLs have come out as the leaders in this saga. They are here (the story) and here (the pics). Enjoy. Actually, this must be the best FAQ on the Net.
June 4, 2001, 7:51 am
.NET users wide open to fraud. Silicon.com Jun 1 2001 7:08PM ET
Bill Malik, VP and research director at Gartner Group, told silicon.com the system would present an intolerable level of risk for some businesses and governments. He said: “I can’t see the banking sector going for it, and I can’t see anyone with obligations under the EU data protection directives wanting to get involved.”
Microsoft’s initiative could really come unstuck if it falls foul of EU data laws.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said it is not investigating .NET currently, but is concerned by both the data and security implications of all so-called ‘single sign-on’ initiatives.
[via Moreover Computer security news]
