===================== S T A R T ===================== www.theregister.co.uk Newsgroups can be terrorists too By: Kieren McCarthy Posted: 20/02/2001 at 17:25 GMT The government has pulled newsgroups and ISPs as well as hackers into the Terrorism Act, passed yesterday, thanks to what one lawyer has called "an unfortunate, over-wide draft". Under section 12, titled "Support", the Act makes it an offence for someone to arrange, manage or assist in arranging a meeting (private or public) in which one of the "terrorist organisations" meets. Since the wording of the Act easily includes all types of hackers plus other consumer groups that plan violent protest, this measure clearly puts newsgroups and ISPs into the fray. <> ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.zdnet.co.uk Hackers become terrorists under new law Mon, 19 Feb 2001 16:35:00 GMT Will Knight Computer hacking comes under government scrutiny with new terrorism act Computer hackers could be classed as terrorists under a UK law that came into force today. The Terrorism Act 2000 is designed to prevent dissident political groups from using the UK as a base for terrorism and recognises a new threat from cyberterrorists for the first time. But the Act also significantly widens the definition of terrorism to include those actions that "seriously interfere with or seriously disrupt an electronic system". According to the Act this only applies to actions "designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public", but it will be up to police investigators to decide when this is the case. The Act gives police the power to detain suspects for 48-hours without a warrant. <> UK ISP GreenNet, which hosts a variety of Web sites belonging to political activists and campaigners, could be affected by the Act. GreenNet consultant and online activist Paul Mobbs, who has coordinated protests through his site, Electrohippies, says that the Act may result in Internet campaigns being controlled. <> Mobbs believes that the Act could even be used by a authoritarian government to stop legitimate political activism. Mobbs courted controversy in March 2000 when he created a point-and-click method of attacking the World Trade Organisation's Web sites as part of global protests against capitalism. <> Home secretary Jack Straw has signalled that he intends to clamp down on those exploiting computers and the Internet to perpetrate terrorist activity under the new Act. "[Terrorists] are no respecters of borders and are continuously developing new approaches and techniques," says Straw. "With the implementation of the Terrorism Act 2000, the UK is making a very firm statement of our intent to combat terrorism, with every legitimate means at our disposal, whenever and wherever it occurs." <> ---------------------------------------------------- www.theregister.co.uk NSA chief says bin Laden has superior technology By: John bin Leyden Posted: 20/02/2001 at 17:18 GMT Islamic terrorist Osama bin Laden has superior technology at his disposal than the National Security Agency, the head of the super-secretive spy agency has told an American documentary programme. Superior technological capabilities helped bin Laden to mastermind the simultaneous 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, said General Mike Hayden, head of the NSA, during an interview to be broadcast tonight on CBS' 60 Minutes II news show. "Osama bin Laden has at his disposal the wealth of a $3-trillion-a-year telecommunications industry that he can rely on," Hayden will say in the interview, according to newswire reports. "We are behind the curve in keeping up with the global telecommunications revolution." <> The idea that the signals intelligence arm of the US (the world's richest country) is behind in innovation involving the latest technology compared to an international pariah living in Afghanistan (one of the world's poorest states) beggars belief. <> The argument of a technology gap between the NSA and bin Laden has everything to do with the start of a New York trial of suspects in the bombing of the US embassies and an attempt by the NSA to coax further funding from Congress by inflating the cyber-terrorism menace. <> Federation of American Scientists information on Bin Laden http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/ladin.htm ======================= E N D ====================