Judge Strikes Down Patriot Act Provision for Subpoenas of Net Data; Akamai Strives for Safer, Speedier Net; First Spammer Convicted Under CAN-SPAM Act; Business Intelligence Projects Need Vigilance

Judge Strikes Down Patriot Act Provision for Subpoenas of Net Data

The USA Patriot Act suffered a blow Wednesday as a federal judge struck down a provision that allowed law enforcement to require Internet service providers so surrender personal information about subscribers and prevent the service providers from disclosing to anyone that they received the subpoena. According to a report in The New York Times, the judge ruled that the law was overbroad and it violated the Constitution by giving law enforcement unchecked powers to obtain private information. The ruling will not take effect for 90 days, giving the Bush administration time to appeal.

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

Akamai Strives for Safer, Speedier Net

Akamai Technologies, a service provider that helps companies like Fed Ex, Yahoo and Google, get their stuff where it needs to go on the Web, made headlines in June when a hacker was able to interrupt traffic to many of Akamai’s customers. A story in the Washington Post profiles Akamai and its role in helping to keep the Internet secure. Akami co-founder Tom Leighton called the attack “scary as hell.” Leighton, who chairs the the cyber-security subcommittee of teh President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee, says that more funding is needed to research Internet security.

For more details, read the full article in the Washington Post.

First Spammer Convicted Under CAN-SPAM Act

Score one for the CAN-SPAM Act. A Los Angeles man was convicted Monday for using other people’s Wi-Fi networks to send thousands of unsolicited adult-themed e-mails. Nicholas Tombros, 37, pleaded guilty to a single felony. He will be sentenced Dec. 27 and could face up to six months in custody, according to a report in The Register. Although sending spam is legal, there are some deceptive practices that have been outlawed. Tombros was charged under a provision that prohibits breaking into someone else’s computer to send spam.

For more details, read the full article in The Register.

Business Intelligence Projects Need Vigilance

Businesses that use business intelligence projects must take extra care to secure their data, said a panel of experts Wednesday. According to a Computerworld (a sister company of CXO Media) report, business intelligence systems must be tightly controlled. Shirley Hughes, the CFO and general manager for the city of Falls Church, Va. told the audience that the city implemented a security policy where all employees had to read and sign a document that explained proper procedures for handling the data.

For more details, read the full article in Computerworld.