Homeland Creates Cybersecurity Subcommittee; Europe Hacker Laws May Make Protest a Crime; Study: Many Companies Lack Disaster, Continuity Plans; IBM Monitors Recalled

Homeland Creates Cybersecurity Subcommittee

The Homeland Security Committee used its first meeting to vote for the creation of five subcommittees that will focus on border security, emergency preparedness, counterterrorism, internal committee rules, and “cybersecurity, science, and research and development” efforts relating to homeland security, according to a story reported by CNet. The story reports that the cybersecurity subcommittee will be in charge of the “protection of government and private networks and computer systems from domestic and foreign attack (and) prevention of injury to civilian populations and physical infrastructure caused by cyberattack.” Europe Hacker Laws May Make Protest a CrimeThe New York Times today, legal experts say the new measures could pose problems because the language could also outlaw people who organize protests online. Under the new agreement, if European Union citizens undertook a bombardment of e-mail, fax and phone lines of an EU leader, as antiwar activists did on Feb. 26 with a virtual protest to the U.S. Senate, they might be liable for prosecution, one legal consultant told the Times. An EU diplomat involved in the drafting of the measures agreed that mechanisms for protection of expression in the code are soft and said that amendments could still be made.

The justice ministers of the European Union have agreed on laws intended to deter computer hacking and the spreading of computer viruses. But, reports

Study: Many Companies Lack Disaster, Continuity Plans reports on a new study released by Dataquest Inc. called , Investment Decisions: Preparing for Organizational Disasters. The study found that although a U.S.-led war in Iraq that could spawn new terrorist attacks in the United States may be less than two weeks away, that hasnt prompted many companies in the U.S. to invest adequately in disaster recovery. IT managers arent investing appropriately in disaster plans because they dont have the money to reach their required readiness levels, said a Dataquest analyst. Commenting on the study, Rob Clyde, vice president and chief technology officer at Symantec Corp., added that even companies that have disaster and contingency plans in place are probably not prepared for the multiple events that could occur in wartime or during a terrorism attack.

ComputerWorld

IBM Monitors RecalledCPSC, IBM has received five reports of monitors overheating and smoking, including one report of minor property damage. No injuries have been reported. The recalled IBM monitors include the G51 CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and G51t Touch Screen CRT models. The monitors were sold between June 1997 and December 1998. Consumers should stop using these monitors immediately and contact the IBM Repair Center at (866) 644-3155.

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), IBM is voluntarily recalling to repair 56,000 computer monitors. The monitor’s circuit board can overheat and smoke, posing a fire hazard to consumers. According to a press release from