ACM TechNews - Friday, October 5, 2001

[technews <technews@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ACM TechNews Subscriber:

Welcome to the October 5, 2001 edition of ACM TechNews,
providing timely information for IT professionals three times a
week.  For instructions on how to unsubscribe from this
service, please see below.

Remember to check out our hot new online essay and opinion
magazine, Ubiquity, at http://www.acm.org/ubiquity

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACM TechNews
Volume 3, Number 261
Date: October 5, 2001
Site Sponsored by Gateway (http://www.gateway.com)

Top Stories for Friday, October 5, 2001:
http://www.acm.org/technews/current/homepage.html

"Senate Committee Tackles IT Infrastructure Protection"
"IT Worker Shortage Continues"
"White House Seeks to Remove Time Limit on Surveillance Part of
 Antiterrorism Bill"
"High-Tech Leaders Slam Encryption Back Door Bill"
"The Microsoft Conundrum"
"Agents Following Suspects' Lengthy Electronic Trail"
"Linux Popularity Breeds More Worms"
"Lawmaker's Bill Would Spur Tech Spending, Charity Donations"
"Tiny Storage Makes Big Impact"
"Cybersecurity R&D 'Inadequate'"
"In Wake of Terrorism, It's Time for the Internet to Face the
 Real World"
"Attacks Change Tech-Spending Plans"
"Securing the Lines of a Wired Nation"
"Companies Rethink Net Privacy After Attacks"
"Tech Firm Job Cuts: Boon or Bust?"
"Return of the Dot-Goners"
"A Federal Call for IT"
"ROI: A Little More Than Lip Service"
"Sometimes the Luddites Are Right"

******************* News Stories ***********************

"Senate Committee Tackles IT Infrastructure Protection"
Private industry leaders and top government officials met to
discuss national IT security before the Senate Governmental
Affairs Committee on Thursday.  Representatives from different
sectors' security centers talked about how they could coordinate ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item1

"IT Worker Shortage Continues"
Research continues to show a shortage in IT workers, despite
numerous layoffs and the highest unemployment rate in nearly four
years.  The Computing Technology Industry Association compiled
surveys given to human resources managers and CIOs of large ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item2

"White House Seeks to Remove Time Limit on Surveillance Part of
 Antiterrorism Bill"
Attorney General John Ashcroft and President Bush are urging the
House of Representatives to reconsider sunset provisions placed
on anti-terrorism legislation approved unanimously earlier in the
week that requires all the increased wiretap surveillance ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item3

"High-Tech Leaders Slam Encryption Back Door Bill"
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sent a
letter to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) protesting a bill he
introduced that would require encryption product makers to
install back doors that law enforcement officials could use.  ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item4

"The Microsoft Conundrum"
Despite Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's charge that the two sides
in the Microsoft antitrust case settle before Nov. 2, several
issues remain that could make that a remote possibility.  The
Justice Department says it wants to uphold previous injunctions ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item5

"Agents Following Suspects' Lengthy Electronic Trail"
Federal law enforcement agents are sleuthing on the Internet,
trying to find evidence on the Web about the recent terrorist
attacks before the data is permanently erased.  Because much of
the data for anonymous accounts and in public forums is erased at ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item6

"Linux Popularity Breeds More Worms"
Linux systems are drawing more viruses now that they are
entrenched in the corporate server market.  Computer Associates
Australia's Jakub Kaminski says Linux viruses such as Ramen have
proliferated over the last year, but that a serious threat is ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item7

"Lawmaker's Bill Would Spur Tech Spending, Charity Donations"
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has introduced a bill allowing
companies to reduce from five years to two years the period that
high-tech equipment must be kept on their books.  Upton says such
a move should boost new equipment sales as well as donations of ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item8

"Tiny Storage Makes Big Impact"
Smaller storage devices are expanding the possibilities of many
consumer electronics products, including PDAs, cell phones,
digital cameras, and portable media players.  There are many
varying formats of the technology working on different platforms.  ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item9

"Cybersecurity R&D 'Inadequate'"
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) said the United States needs to
increase its cybersecurity research in order to prevent future
terrorist attacks.  Boehlert is chairman of the House Science
Committee, which is looking into ways research can further ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item10

"In Wake of Terrorism, It's Time for the Internet to Face the
 Real World"
The Internet played a decisive role in both carrying out the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and in finding evidence and rallying
national support after the tragedy.  The resiliency of the Web
after the attacks at a time when telecommunications and even some ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item11

"Attacks Change Tech-Spending Plans"
Nineteen percent of 225 CIOs surveyed by Morgan Stanley
investment bank say that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have
forced their companies to reassess their major technology
purchases.  Some 33 percent of the respondents believe it is too ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item12

"Securing the Lines of a Wired Nation"
According to many experts, the Internet poses an inviting target
for terrorists who want to disrupt operations in the United
States.  A report by the Dartmouth-based Institute for Security
Technology Studies states that strikes by U.S. hackers in ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item13

"Companies Rethink Net Privacy After Attacks"
Privacy experts say that companies are making sure their online
privacy policies do not become entangled in the investigation
into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and some companies are
rewriting their published privacy statements.  Most such policies ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item14

"Tech Firm Job Cuts: Boon or Bust?"
Analysts warn that the large number of layoffs among tech firms
may seriously harm those companies in the long term, even though
it may produce favorable short-term results on their balance
sheets.  Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, an executive placement ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item15

"Return of the Dot-Goners"
Corporations are applying two practices that have survived the
dot-com collapse:  The awarding of high salaries to IT
professionals and the employers' differentiation from other
dot-coms and market rivals as an incentive for potential IT ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item16

"A Federal Call for IT"
The federal government is in a bind:  Fewer and fewer young IT
workers are coming in, while estimates say that as much as 50
percent of its current IT personnel will retire in five to six
years.  A study conducted by the National Academy of Public ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item17

"ROI: A Little More Than Lip Service"
An InternetWeek survey indicates that managers may be dedicating
few actual resources to demonstrate a return on investment (ROI)
on their IT projects.  Out of 1,000 managers polled, 82 percent
are expecting profitable "e-business operations" this year, but ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item18

"Sometimes the Luddites Are Right"
Society must take Luddites more seriously when it comes to
information technologies, contends Weiner, Edrich, Brown Chairman
Arnold Brown.  Even Sun Microsystems chief scientist Bill Joy
warned of "knowledge-based mass destruction" in a recent article ...
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1005f.html#item19

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-- To review Wednesday's issue, please visit
http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2001-3/1003w.html

-- To visit the TechNews home page, point your browser to:
http://www.acm.org/technews/

-- To unsubscribe from the ACM TechNews Early Alert Service:
Please send a separate email to listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
with the line

signoff technews

in the body of your message.

-- Please note that replying directly to this message does not
automatically unsubscribe you from the TechNews list.

-- To submit feedback about ACM TechNews, contact:
technews@xxxxxxxxxx

-- ACM may have a different email address on file for you,
so if you're unable to "unsubscribe" yourself, please direct
your request to: technews-request@xxxxxxx

We will remove your name from the TechNews list on
your behalf.

-- For help with technical problems, including problems with
leaving the list, please write to:  technews-request@xxxxxxx

----
ACM TechNews is sponsored by Gateway