News Roundup

Suggestions to Congress for Stopping Computer VirusesWired.com yesterday, the latest version of the virus in the Sobig strain, Sobig.H, is expected to make its debut Thursday or later in the week. Thus, with the goal of deterring future threats, the the technology subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Reform convened three panels of representatives from law enforcement, security firms and industry, including Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec. Proposed solutions included better standards for producing secure software, computing ethics education for children, funding and training for computer forensics and protocols for information sharing that would aid in capturing perpetrators across borders. But, writes Wired.com, perhaps the most controversial suggestion came from John Schwarz, president and COO of antivirus firm Symantec, who called for legislation to criminalize the sharing of information and tools online that can be used by malicious hackers and virus writers. He didnt tackle how legislators would determine the difference between malicious information and that used for legitimate security research, however, or whether such a law might compromise freedom of speech.

According to a story in

Swedish Police Hunt Lindh SuspectBBC News today reports that Swedish police say they have identified a man they want to question in connection with the killing of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in the capital, Stockholm. The 46-year-old was attacked with a knife on Wednesday while shopping. Police say fingerprints found at the scene of the crime enabled them to identify their suspect, and that the knife used and clothes worn by the killer have also been found. The motive for the killing of the generally popular politician is not known, although Lindh was a leading campaigner for Sweden to join the euro. Lindh’s death, says the BBC, has shocked a nation that has long prided itself on the accessibility of its politicians; like many officials, she did not use a bodyguard.

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Panel Told Blair Iraq War Could Boost Terror RiskThe Washington Post, a parliamentary report released today indicates that Britain’s intelligence chiefs warned Prime Minister Tony Blair a month before the invasion of Iraq that military action would increase the risk of terrorists obtaining weapons of mass destruction. The top-secret Joint Intelligence Committee—a cabinet-level body that includes the chiefs of Britain’s main intelligence agencies—did not spell out why intelligence agencies believed military action might allow terrorists to obtain such weapons. Like all of its previous assessments, the panel’s report today was unanimously approved. The committee said it had made no attempt to judge whether the decision to invade Iraq was correct, but whether the intelligence the government relied upon was adequate and properly assessed, the Post reports.

According to a story in

Satellite Tracking of Suspects Requires a Warrant, Court RulesNew York Times. The closely watched case had evoked worries about the police using the satellite tracking devices to watch citizens’ every move. The case, in which a murderer unwittingly led police via GPS to the victims grave, still yielded a guilty conviction.

The police cannot attach a Global Positioning System tracker to a suspect’s vehicle without a warrant, the Washington Supreme Court said today in the first such ruling in the nation, according to a story in todays