News Bits
Items from security-related news (E83.Mar-2008)

The threat seems largely theoretical, but a team of computer security researchers reports that it has been able to gain wireless access to a combination heart defibrillator and pacemaker. Two researchers are well-known in the computer security community, Tadayoshi Kohno and Kevin Fu, were part of the research team, and their reports is available through http://www.secure-medicine.org  

There are young Chinese hackers who claim, without proof, to have broken into Pentagon websites and been paid by the Chinese government. Although the presence of hackers young or old anywhere in the world is hardly a surprise, the article claims that the expertise in China is spread among at least 10,000 people.  

That digital picture frame or GPS unit, so attractive and easy to install, may come with the dirty old viruses of the past, according to this article. The corruption may come from media reproduction services overseas, where the equipment and computers may be infected with or without the knowledge of the operators.