Dear Colleagues,

Edupage is a daily newsletter dealing with the impact
and implications of information technology in higher
education.

Highly recommended.

Ken Friedman



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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2002
   Tool Can Help Hackers or Network Operators
   Putting Limits on Carnivore
   FCC Approves Services over Satellite
   Cisco Announces Faster Wireless
AND
   Bush Administration Limits Study for Foreign Students
   New Rules Disappoint Satellite Researchers
   Web Services Standards Group Adds Members


TOOL CAN HELP HACKERS OR NETWORK OPERATORS
A new tool called Fragroute shows vulnerabilities in a network's
intrusion-detection systems and firewalls, helping network
administrators identify weaknesses but also showing those same security
holes to hackers. The tool uses a variety of techniques to disguise
malicious code and send attacks that will not be detected. Marti
Roesch, president of the company that makes the popular
intrusion-detection system Snort, said almost all of the problems
Fragroute exposed in his company's software have been fixed, and the
rest will be fixed next week. Officials from Internet Security Systems,
maker of RealSecure, said its product was not fooled by Fragroute.
Still, any security holes detected by Fragroute in a network's
defenses can be exploited by hackers.
CNET, 19 April 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-887065.html

PUTTING LIMITS ON CARNIVORE
Alex Iliev, a graduate student at Dartmouth College, this week
presented a proposal to the Privacy Enhancing Technologies workshop in
which he outlines a method to keep electronic monitoring within defined
limits. Electronic surveillance, including the FBI's Carnivore
application, typically collects all data flowing through a network,
though legal warrants usually only allow it to look at some of what is
collected. Iliev's approach would involve collecting and encrypting
the traffic on a network and placing it in a "vault." When law
enforcement or other officials request data, the vault would only
release the appropriate information, eliminating the possibility of a
"fishing expedition." The program Iliev developed uses an IBM 4758
cryptographic coprocessor, considered extremely secure and meeting the
highest standard for security of the U.S. government.
Wired News, 18 April 2002
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,51917,00.html

FCC APPROVES SERVICES OVER SATELLITE
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted seven
companies licenses to offer services, including broadband Internet
access, over satellites. The companies are permitted to offer consumer
services using Ku-band frequencies (10.7GHz through 14.5GHz). A sharing
arrangement was also approved that will prevent "in-line interference
events" from disrupting transmissions when multiple satellites attempt
to transmit over the same frequency in a direct line. FCC Commissioner
Kathleen Abernathy said the new service will be a boon for the
broadband market, for innovation in products, and for lower consumer
prices.
InfoWorld, 19 April 2002
http://www.idg.net/ic_849897_1794_9-10000.html

CISCO ANNOUNCES FASTER WIRELESS
Cisco Systems, Inc. announced a new line of wireless hardware that can
transmit data at up to 54 megabits per second, compared to 11 megabits
per second for its older products. The Aironet 1200 access points and
wireless cards use 802.11 technology, and Cisco said they will be
functional with older models. The products can be upgraded with new
features and future increases in security.
Wall Street Journal, 17 April 2002 (sub. req'd)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1019028170922282080,00.html

AND
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BUSH ADMINISTRATION LIMITS STUDY FOR FOREIGN STUDENTS
University officials have expressed deep concern over the Bush
Administration's policies for foreign students. Access to student
visas was recently tightened in an effort to combat terrorism, and a
presidential directive issued in October suggested placing limits on
the fields of study that international students are allowed to pursue.
Representatives from colleges and universities argued that security
screening should take place before students arrive in the United
States. They said the basic character of higher education would be
compromised if certain information were held off limits for some
students. A spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security confirmed
that the government would indeed monitor the courses of study of
foreign students, looking for suspicious activity, and that the group
overseeing the regulations was already reviewing draft recommendations.
New York Times, 18 April 2002 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/18/education/18STUD.html

NEW RULES DISAPPOINT SATELLITE RESEARCHERS
Despite easing of some regulations for sharing data about satellite
projects, university researchers were largely disappointed with the
continued restrictions in revised rules for satellite-based research.
The new rules, issued by the State Department, still require
researchers to obtain State Department approval before sharing certain
data with academic and commercial organizations in many countries. U.S.
researchers said the rules effectively exclude people in those
countries from participating in satellite projects. The State
Department defended the rules, saying they are a security precaution
but do not impede legitimate research and sharing of data.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 April 2002 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/04/2002041801n.htm

WEB SERVICES STANDARDS GROUP ADDS MEMBERS
The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) announced that
its membership has roughly doubled, to more than 100 companies. New
members include AT&T, Cicsco, and Proctor & Gamble. Sun Microsystems,
which is not yet a member, had requested "founding member" status but
was turned down by the WS-I Board. Sun has said it will join as a less
influential "community member" when it receives formal notification of
the Board's decision. The WS-I, created this year by Microsoft and
IBM, aims to promote Web services and ensure that technologies from
different vendors work together. At its initial meeting this week, the
WS-I identified four specifications (XML, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI) that
the organization hopes to standardize to foster interoperability.
CNET, 18 April 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-885967.html

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