The FBI maintains a Web site (1) that explains the purposes and ramifications of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). In addition to discussing the telecommunication industry's role in supporting the act, the site defines electronic surveillance and offers several documents regarding associated legal issues. An excellent source for government surveillance information...

On October 22, 2002, an attack on the thirteen servers that act as the backbone of the Internet was carried out, briefly disabling nine of them. This drew attention to the often criticized organization that operates these servers, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Coincidentally, an October 2, 2002 report from ICANN addresses the issue of internet security. The...

Freelan is VPN software that provides a virtual LAN that connects computers anywhere in the world as if they were on the same network switch. Many of the VPN options previously covered in the Scout Report (for example, Psiphon in the 02-16-2018 issue, ProtonVPN in the 08-17-2018 issue, and TunnelBear in the 03-11-2016 issue) act as encrypted proxies that hide users' network traffic and make their...

The Internet Guide is a no-nonsense site intended for Internet newbies. It consists of several short articles that discuss the basics of Internet navigation, common terms and phrases, Netiquette, and much more. Some specific technologies are also mentioned, such as Telnet and newsgroups. The Guide occasionally refers to various products or services; however, it does not endorse any particular...

Appearing at the INFOCOM conference in April 2003, this research paper provides insight into critical factors necessary to contain outbreaks of self-propagating code on the Internet. Citing the outbreak of the Code-Red worm in 2001 as an example, the authors justify the need for better methods of quickly controlling the spread of malicious code and minimizing damage. A couple scenarios for the...

Password security these days is of the utmost importance, and users who wish to remain diligent about such matters will appreciate learning about KeePass. This utility stores users' passwords in one encrypted database, and visitors can also use their built-in password generator. This version is compatible with computers running Windows 98 and newer.

The main feature of this Web site is the report titled "Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age," released in October 2002. It examines how to effectively use information technology to collect and analyze information pertinent to national security. The report states that current government practices are insufficient in this area, and it is laden with recommendations for improving the...

Security in distributed computing systems is a very important area of research, especially as malicious behavior is a growing cause of concern for businesses and organizations. This paper addresses an emerging method of maintaining security in untrustworthy environments. Until recently, the operating system was the only means of protecting data; the authors discuss a more elaborate technique of...

ProtonVPN is a virtual private network service produced by the company that runs the ProtonMail high-security email service. ProtonVPN is similarly designed to be a high-security VPN suitable for journalists and political activists. The service exclusively uses ciphers designed for Perfect Forward Secrecy, which means that a compromised encryption key cannot be used to decrypt past sessions....

An October 29, 2002 news article in USA Today describes a recent surge in activity of politically motivated hackers and cyber terrorists. The attacks, which range from Web site defacements to viruses and worms, are probably being perpetrated by individuals opposed to the US war on terrorism and action in Iraq.