White House Rewrites Security Plan; Terror Police Find Deadly Poison in U.K.; Account of Five Illegals Thought Bogus; Network Associates Buys Anti-Spam Company

White House Rewrites Security Plan

The Bush administration has cut by half the initiatives to tighten security of computer networks and eliminated a recommendation that the White House consult regularly with privacy advocates, according to a story in today’s Washington Post. The Post reports that the new version charges the CIA and FBI with the responsibility to disrupt attempts by other countries to use computers to gather intelligence.Terror Police Find Deadly Poison in U.K.BBC News reports today that anti-terrorist police have arrested seven people after discovering traces of the highly toxic poison, ricin, in London. According to the BBC story, six men and one woman were arrested in the early hours of Jan. 5. The men, ranging in age from late teens to 30s, remain in custody while the woman has been released. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Pat Troop told the BBC that tests were carried out on the material and it was confirmed this morning that toxic material was present. Ricin is considered a likely biowarfare or bioterrorist agent.

The

Account of Five Illegals Thought BogusCNN.com report last night, some FBI officials now believe an account of five men infiltrating the United States from Canada—leading to a nationwide manhunt for the men for questioning—was fabricated. Despite some skepticism, the FBI issued an alert on Dec. 28. As of last night, the agency still had the five men’s pictures posted on its Web site and said it would like to talk to them. The source of the story, Michael John Hamdani, is in police custody in Canada and faces extradition. After authorities arrested him on a 1996 charge of “knowingly and intentionally” possessing false identification documents in New York, he posted a $200,000 bond but later skipped town. An AP report published in the Detroit Free Press this morning says the FBI has called off the nationwide search for five foreign-born men amid questions about the reliability of Hamdani, who told authorities the men were smuggled into the country last month. The mens photos will be removed from the Web site today.

According to a

Network Associates Buys Anti-Spam CompanySan Francisco Chronicle, security software maker Network Associates announced yesterday that it bought a small e-mail filtering company as a first step toward including spam control in its products. The company said the acquisition of Deersoft is the initial action in its plan to invest further in fighting the growing annoyance of unsolicited e-mail. Network Associates is known primarily for protecting clients from Internet viruses, but like other network security providers, it is moving toward offering a broader portfolio of services, the Chronicle reports.

According to a story in todays