Fed IT Budget Up 12 Percent; Courts Disagree on Keeping Cybercriminals Offline; Profiling Software Provides New Security Against Hackers; In Japan, ATMs Put up a Squawk

Fed IT Budget Up 12 Percent

The federal government’s CIO has proposed a 12 percent increase in the 2004 budget, bringing it to $59 billion, according to a story in today’s Washington Post. The Post reports that most of that increase will fund homeland security, and that those funds could be used for federal, state or local programs.Courts Disagree on Keeping Cybercriminals OfflineNew York Times. The Times reports that some courts have expressed the belief that Internet use is essential technology for normal life, and therefor should not be banned.

Federal appeals courts around the country have come up with different opinions about the legality of keeping convicted cybercriminals off of the Internet, according to an article in today’s

Profiling Software Provides New Security Against HackersUSA Today, the recent spate of computer-network intrusions, perpetrated by hackers, moles or tricksters intent on theft, sabotage or cyberterrorism, have given rise to a promising profiling-and-reasoning strategy aimed at preventing online break-ins as they happen. The “user-level anomaly detection” software under development draws up regularly updated profiles by closely tracking over time how each person performs an array of routine tasks. Once alerted to anomalies, network administrators can begin monitoring more aggressively to assess whether pilferage is in progress. Critics site false alarms as a real problem. Researchers say the software would be just one tool in a computer-security arena that requires multilayered defenses.

According to an AP story in todays

In Japan, ATMs Put up a SquawkAsahi Shimbun reports on new antitheft measures on automatic teller machines. According to the National Police Agency, Asahisays, in 2002 there were 57 cases nationwide of ATM thefts where construction equipment was used to carry off the machines, up sharply from nine incidents in 2001. In all, the thieves got away with 335 million yen in cash last year. But financial institutions and securities companies are fighting back. Like a knocked-about pinball machine, new ATMs are outfitted with sirens and lights designed to go off the instant they detect a jolt. But, unlike a pinball machine, theres no reset button; they’re designed to keep on wailing nonstop for 10 hours.

Todays English-version