Current Literature

In brief

The key to cryptography

A Harvard University computer science professor has made a crytographical discovery. He has discovered a way to send coded messages that cannot be deciphered — by basing the code on a key that vanishes even as it is being used. This is the first time that anyone has been able to create a workable code that can be proved to be unbreakable.

Laboratory Focus — Gazette Edition, May 2001

Consumers fear digital fraud

UK consumers are happy to provide personal information including fingerprints and DNA in exchange for better protection against fraud according to a survey by Compaq and researcher Taylor Nelson Sofres. In a survey of 1000 adults two thirds said that credit card companies and banks have a responsibility to protect against fraud.

Computing, 6 December 2001

BT Marconi plan to turn pay phones into net hubs

British Telecommunications PLC and Marconi PLC are expected to announce a joint venture to turn BT payphones into Internet access terminals, according to a BT spokeswoman. This is being proposed in order to increase the revenue received from BT’s payphone service which has declined as the rate of mobile phone ownership has increased. The deal will be worth about £100 million to Marconi over a period of years.

Staff Writer — Wall Street Journal, 10 December 2001

Disaster Recovery and planning found lacking

According to a survey by researcher IDC, up to 77% of IT managers only become aware of the importance of disaster planning after downtime has occurred. In another study, the Meta Group found that more than 70% of IT directors spend up to 80% of their resources reactively. www.idc.com, www.metagroup.com,

Computing, 13 December 2001

Microsoft password bug causes festive merriment

According to a report in IT Week several versions of the Microsoft operating system include a bug which enforces password policies slightly too efficiently. A user wrote to the magazine to complain after being presented with the following messages while trying to change his password using Windows 2000: “Your password must be at least 18 770 characters and cannot repeat any of your previous 18 770 passwords.” http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q276/3/04.asp IT Week — 17th December

FunLove comes free with teeny toon title

A Warner Bros DVD of cartoon heroes, The Powerpuff Girls has had to be recalled after the FunLove virus was found on three files. If the DVD is played on a computer it could infect the local hard drive as well as any networked computers.

Information Security, December 2001