FOR every article praising the wonders of the Net, you can usually find another pointing out how unsuitable it is for sending anything but rude pictures. This is largely because many of the security systems in use just aren鈥檛 good enough to trust with valuable information such as credit card numbers.
In response to this criticism, many Netizens are trying to tighten up security, by scrutinising the claims of companies selling Net connection software to make sure that their programs are as secure as they claim.
One of the first companies to come under fire was Netscape. After a couple of well-publicised hack attacks, the company鈥檚 response was to offer a 鈥淏ugs Bounty鈥� to anyone who can find flaws in new versions of its Web browser.
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Now an organisation dedicated to security and privacy called C2 has just announced a Hack Microsoft competition to complement it鈥檚 existing Hack Java contest. Details of the Microsoft competition can be found at . Be warned it takes a while to load.
Opinions vary about how frank Microsoft is being on the issue of security, and you can find both sides of the argument at in an article by Rich Graves.
The Hack Java competition has been running for a while, but details can be found at .
As for Unix, the operating system that the Internet runs on 鈥� it is so holey it could run for Pope. There are lots of sites that detail the problems and supply links to get fixes and software to plug the gaps. Try the Computer Emergency Response Team鈥檚 central coordinators at .
ON the subject of crime, the Museum of Contemporary Ideas in (), has announced the appearance of a Net novel about a series of murders committed at 12 art fairs around the world. A sample chapter from the book, which takes 鈥渟erial killing to new heights of artistry and humour鈥�, can be found at the above address.
NETROPOLITAN is at edit@news.newsci.ipc.co.uk. Put 鈥淣etropolitan鈥� in the subject line, but please note that this is not a mailing list. And don鈥檛 forget to check out the New 杏吧原创 Planet Science Web site at , where you鈥檒l find all our favourite Web sites.
