Vast Security Force Deployed to NYC for Convention; Dozens Charged in Spam/Scam Crackdown; Spam Filter Uses DNA Analysis to Filter Spam; Polish Cops Bust Pracy Ring

Vast Security Force Deployed to NYC for Convention

The Republican National Convention not only have the protection of the New York City Police Department, but also the largest deployment of land, air and maritime forces ever to provide security at a national political gathering, according to state, federal and local officials. The New York Times reports that the terror threat level for New York City remains at orange status (or high alert) based on intelligence that Al Qaeda may attack domestically; however, nothing specific points to the convention or New York City. Said a senior counterterrorism official to the Times: “Attacking Madison Square Garden would be like pulling a bank job at Fort Knox. It will be the hardest target in the world.” The bulk of security will be provided by New York City’s 37,000-man police force, 10,000 of which will be deployed around Madison Square Garden. In addition, helicopters will patrol the sky, 26 launches will patrol waterways and 181 bomb-sniffing dogs will be used. The pricetag for the bolstered effort, not counting costs incurred by federal agencies, will run about $60 million.

For more details, read the full article in The New York Times.

Dozens Charged in Spam/Scam Crackdown

Attorney General John Ashcroft will announce Thursday that federal and state law enforcement agencies have made dozens arrests in crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other Internet scams. The story, reported by several outlets including The New York Times, the announcement will come after months of intense investigations. Much of the funding for the efforts, known as Operation Slam Spam, comes from the Direct Marketing Association, a trade group that promotes the legitimate use of e-mail marketing. According to the Times, the cases were developed by a team that consisted of federal authorities, executives from Internet businesses and investigators at an office in Pittsburgh operated by the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance.

For more details, read the full article in The New York Times.

Spam Filter Uses DNA Analysis to Filter Spam

A new anti-spem algorithm developed by computational biologists at IBM’s TJ Watson Research Center is based on a method that scientists analyze genetic sequences. According to a BBC News Online report (originally reported in New Scientist magazine) the algorithm automatically learns patters of spam vocabulary and has proved to be 96.5 percent efficient. In tests, the filter only misidentified one message in 6,000.

For more details, read the full story on BBC News Online.

Polish Cops Bust Pracy Ring

Polish police have gathered evidence against more than 100 people involved in a piracy ring, Reuters reports. The suspects used academic computer systems around the world to set up “warehouses” to store pirated games, films and music. All of the suspects were over 18, but the vast majority were around 20 years old, according to a police spokeswoman.

For more details, read this Reuters story in The New York Times.