WorldCom owns up to $4-bn accounting fraud

In a fraud far bigger in money terms than Enron's misdeeds, US telecom giant WorldCom has revealed that its officials improperly accounted for $3.8 billion in expenses, a disclosure that threw share prices around the globe into tailspin.

WorldCom, one of the pioneers of the 1990s telecoms boom, revealed last night that it had swept $3.8 billion in ordinary expenses off its profit-and-loss statement by counting them as capital expenditures, which are deducted from revenue over a longer period, not immediately.

-Cnn.com

Computer Lessons for Terrorists

Al Qaeda terrorists interested in computer hacking are just clicks away from a crash course in digital sabotage. A Website operated by the Muslim Hackers Club offers tutorials in cyber mischief: viruses, hacking strategems, network "phreaking" and secret codes. It also features links to militant Islamic and cyber prankster sites, including U.S. sites that purport to disclose sensitive information like "code names" and radio frequencies used by the Secret Service.

White House officials worry that Islamic hackers will sooner or later graduate from pranks and vandalism to cyber terrorism. Computer terrorists, experts say, could cause widespread disruption, or even loss of life, by interfering with classes on how to mount terror attacks on computer networks. The FBI and the DIA believe the main objective of the club is to develop software tools which can then be used by other Islamic groups to attack Western targets. Some U.S. officials think a serious cyber attack by Islamic militants is in evitable. "It's not a question of if" said an intelligence source. "It's a question of when."

-Newsweek May 20, 2002

Israel device detects cell phones acting as bugs

IMAGINE your company is holding secret talks to buy another firm when your main competitor suddenly snaps it up from under your nose, apparently aware of all the details of the negotiations. While you initiate a widespread investigation, the culprit could be nothing more sinister than a cell phone "accidentally" left in the corner of the room, placed in a plant pot or taped under the boardroom table.

With as light modification, all phones become high-quality bugs. An owner can call the phone from any where in the world without it emitting a ringing tone while its screen remains blank, apparently turned off.

The beauty of the cellphone as a bug is that it's an innocent looking and ubiquitous object," said Ben Te'eni, co-founder of Netline Communications 'Idchnologies, which has developed a device for detecting cell phone communications, especially from cell phones in dormant mode.

The drawback for cell phones and what enables Net line to catch them out, however, is that they periodically transmit a signal to their base station. With Netline's small Cellular Activity Analyzer (CAA) device left in a boardroom before or during crucial meetings, cell phone activity is detected and recorded with a visual and audio warning emitted.

"A phone can also remotely activate a bomb or be used for tactical communications such as a terrorist act, bank robbery, hostage situation or kidnapping," Te'eni said.

-The Indian Express June 12, 2002