From Cyberspace Today March 1, 1995
British teen cracks US defense net
London - A 16-year-old British citizen allegedly hacked into some of
the US government's most sensitive computers and monitored secret
communications between US agents in north Korea during the crisis over
nuclear inspection last spring. After reading them, he put them onto a
bulletin board of the Internet.
A London newspaper, The Independent, reported that Scotland Yard arrested the teenaged boy in December, 1994 and notified British law enforcement authorities, presumably to take the boy to trial. In what US officials have conceded is one of the most serious breaches of computer security in recent years, the teen accessed several defence department systems for at least seven months without detection. The systems he obtained access to included those for ballistic weapons research and aircraft design, payroll, procurement, personnel records and electronic mail.
The teen was, according to US officials, one of a number of people who broke into US defense computers in the latter months of 1993 and the early months of 1994. But it is understood that he was responsible for most of the damage. In all, more than a million user passwords were compromised. The US Defense Information Systems Agency admitted in a private briefing, which has been confirmed, that the hackers had affected the Department's military readiness.
The teen was first detected in March 1994, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) was appointed to investigate. A spokesman said yesterday that the teen, who was nicknamed Datastream by friends on the Internet, needed more knowledge than the average home computer owner would possess to hack the computers. It is understood that he invented a sniffer program which searched across hundreds of computers attached to the Internet for passwords and user names. He was finally caught because he left his terminal on-line to a US defence computer over night.
Another British hacker, aged 22, who is acquainted with Datastream, read some of the messages accessed by him. They contained information about firing sites in North Korea and stuff like that. Field intelligence. He kept detailed logs of communication traffic. He really couldn't believe his luck. The Americans thought he was a spy but he told them he was just doing it for fun.
The OSI said in a statement: "It is unknown if any hacker actually read, copied or took any other action with the Korean files or any other sensitive data. The Korean files were on the Girths Air Force Base computer system and therefore the could have been accessed. It is our opinion that the hacker who accessed the Korean file system learned of its existence form a bulletin board system or another hacker. It is possible the hacker could have read the Korean files."
TCI Pumps $125 million into Microsoft Network
Redmond, WA - TCI Technology Ventures and Microsoft Corporation
announced in December that TCI has made a minority investment in the
newly formed Microsoft Online Services Partnership (MOSP). MOSP is a
partnership formed to own the assets and cash flow of Microsoft's
planned online service, The Microsoft Network.
TCI Technology Ventures, the technology business group of Tele-Communications Inc., is investing $125 million in the newly created partnership and acquires a 20 percent minority interest in MOSP. Microsoft, managing partner, holds 80 percent of MOSP. Other financial terms of the agreement, including other considerations factored into the valuation of the partnership, were not disclosed. Bruce Ravenel, senior vice president at TCI Technology Ventures, said, "This partnership reflects TCI's confidence in the growth- potential of online services. Online services are a key element for our customers, and this gives us the ability to offer current services and, as we build out our broadband networks, offer The Microsoft Network as a high-speed, interactive online service."
"Having TCI Technology Ventures as a partner is an important step in our commitment to providing a compelling platform for content and service providers," said Russ Siegelman, general manager of the Microsoft online services group. "The evolution of cable modems and growing awareness of online is expected to increase the demand for online services by cable subscribers. In the long term, the benefit for information providers will be the opportunity to migrate their online service offerings to the broadband arena. This partnership will allow us to move The Microsoft Network into that area."
Initially, the service will focus on offering easy access to electronic mail and bulletin-board communications for customers of the Windows 95 operating system. Access to The Microsoft Network will be offered as an option to users of Windows 95 when it becomes available.
Microsoft Selects UUNET and SpyGlass for Net
Redmond, WA - Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation let
out some news about Microsoft's Internet strategy in January at the
Washington Software Association's Online Advantage conference. Gates
said Microsoft would include full Internet access in the new Windows 95
operating system as part of The Microsoft Network, Microsoft's planned
online service.
As part of these plans, Microsoft formed a strategic relationship with UUNET Technologies Inc. last month. UUNET, located in Falls Church, VA. and one of the oldest and largest Internet service providers, is to build for Microsoft a new, dedicated, global TCP/IP network connected directly to the Internet. Members of the Microsoft Network will have full Internet access through this network.
Gates also announced that Microsoft has licensed technology from SpyGlass Inc., including the widely accepted NCSA Mosaic browser software. The combination of the new TCP/IP network and enhanced Mosaic technology will dramatically improve the experience of users of Windows 95 in connecting to and using the Internet and will allow them to access seamlessly both World Wide Web sites and Microsoft Network content and services, Gates said in his speech.
Microsoft also announced made a minority investment in UUNET. "Microsoft's strategic relationship with UUNET will allow us to work together closely to build one of the largest Internet-access networks in the world and will help accelerate the growth of Internet," said John Sidgmore, president and CEO of UUNET.
UUNET's role will be to build, deploy and operate the Microsoft network. The network will be initially accessible via modem at speeds up to 28.8 Kbps plus ISDN connections. Microsoft is targeting the new network capability and the browser software to be available by the end of 1995.
The Microsoft Network is scheduled to debut in August, 1995, if Windows 95 becomes available at the same time. Microsoft recently pushed back Windows 95's anticipated ship date from Spring to August 1995.
Apple lowers eWorld rate, enhances GeoPort
San Francisco - Apple Computer Inc. in January cut the hourly charges
for its on-line service, eWorld, by almost half - to $2.95 an hour,
from $4.95 an hour.
The company also said that the next release of eWorld is expected to be available this spring, and is expected to include Internet support, new electronic mail management capabilities, and new multimedia features.
On the hardware front Apple said it would ship this month the GeoPort Telecom Adapter Kit, an integrated phone, fax and voice mail module. The GeoPort Telecom Adapter Kit includes a full-duplex speakerphone, Apple Telecom 2.0 software, Cypress Research Corporation's MegaPhone screen-based telephone software and Aladdin Systems' SITcomm Special Edition communications software. Final pricing was not announced, but is expected to be under $250.
Size of Internet pegged at 13.5 million people
Austin, Texas - Matrix Information and Directory Services (MIDS),
located here, this month released a survey of the number of people on
the Internet. According to their calculations, in October, 1994 13.5
million people around the world had access to Internet services such as
USENET, e-mail and the World Wide Web. More than half of those computer
users, 7.8 million, have the ability to publish information on the net
using telnet, World Wide Web, FTP or gopher servers.
The study, written by MIDS principals Smoot Carl-Mitchell and John S. Quarterman, divided the Internet population in to a "core," "consumer" and "matrix" hierarchy. "Core" users are those who may publish information, "consumers" are those who may access services such as FTP, gopher, USENET and the World Wide Web and members of the "matrix" is anyone who can send an e-mail message to a recipient on the Internet.
The matrix is estimated to include 27.5 million individuals worldwide. The figure of 13.5 million Internet "consumers" is considerably less than the oft-cited figure of 30 million. Quarterman says, however, that the Internet is still growing exponentially. The current growth rate is causing the size of the Internet to double every year, continued Quarterman.
San Jose Mercury News on the Web
San Jose - The San Jose Mercury News announced in January month it was
joining the growing number of California newspapers to offer a product
on the Internet.
Mercury officials claimed their product was different because it includes advertising. Electronic editions of the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner currently do not include advertising. Advertising positions consisting of an image and hyperlink are located at the bottom of most Mercury Center Web pages.
"We're proud to introduce Mercury Center Web for what we view as significant and growing audience on the Internet," said Bill Mitchell, director of electronic publishing for the Mercury News. "At the same time, we are committed to continue aggressive development of our service on America Online, which we believe is the best choice for many consumers."
The Mercury Center Web will offer the complete news and editorial text of each day's San Jose Mercury News, arranged by sections in the form of headlines and summaries. Readers can click on the headline to read the complete article.
Officials said the home page would be updated throughout the day with changing news photographs and the latest headlines. The Mercury Center Web is currently free of charge, but officials said it would soon be divided into free and paid areas. "The subscription price has not been determined," said Mitchell, "but advertising will help us keep the service very inexpensive for consumers to subscribe."
The new service may be accessed at the URL http://www.sjmercury.com/. The San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle's Web service may be accessed at the URL http://sfgate.com/.
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