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Clocks' Early Spring Forward May Bring About a Few Falls

It seemed so simple and familiar: Spring forward, fall back. For 20 years, that's what Americans -- and their technology -- have done with their clocks on the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October.

No longer. When few people were paying attention in August 2005, Congress lengthened daylight saving time by four weeks in the name of energy efficiency. The change takes effect this year -- on March 11 -- and it has angered airlines, delighted candy makers and sent thousands of technicians scrambling to make sure countless automated systems switch their clocks at the right moment. Unless changed by one method or another, many systems will remain programmed to read the calendar and start daylight saving time on its old date in April, not its new one in March.

It's one thing to arrive an hour late for church on the first day of daylight saving. It's another for a security system to log the wrong time of crucial events, for pilots to misunderstand their takeoff times or international communications components to stop synchronizing. But such scenarios are possible without the fix to vast numbers of the nation's technical systems.

Details Here: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2007/01/31/AR2007013102318.html

first published week of:   02/05/2007

Critics Blast Music DRM Legislation

Electronic freedom advocates oppose a US bill that would require Internet broadcasters to use DRM technology.

Details Here: www.pcworld.com/article/128579-1/article.html?tk=nl_dnxnws

first published week of:   01/22/2007

cybercrime tools are getting cheaper

It's becoming cheaper and easier to get hold of the tools needed to launch a cybercrime attack, according to security company RSA. Jens Hinrichsen, the company's product marketing manager for fraud auction, said Thursday that RSA has been monitoring the Web sites and ICQ channels where malicious hackers and cybercriminals interact. These sites allow participants to share feedback and even review one another's products.

Addressing an audience at the RSA Conference 2007 here, Hinrichsen showed several screengrabs to illustrate that the prices being asked for hacking tools have been dropping, with many participants embracing volume discounts and other incentives. One example was a post offering a "Super Trojan," which could be used to install malicious code on a victim's PC, for $600.

Another example was someone selling e-mail address lists and log-in details for sites such as eBay. “For one to 10 accounts, this guy would charge you five bucks per account. But they've got discounted rates--just like any other institution would offer their customers. So if you buy 10 to 50 accounts, he'll give it to you for $4.50 each. Fifty more accounts would be $3.50 each,” Hinrichsen said.

Details Here: news.com.com/2100-7349_3-6158025.html

first published week of:   02/12/2007

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