Governments Hacked

Graphic source, CNN, 19 September 1996.

Computer Sweden reports today that hacks compromised embassy and government email accounts worldwide. The countries effected by this breach are the foreign ministry of Iran, the Kazakh and Indian embassies in the U.S., Uzbeki embassies and consulates worldwide, the Russian embassy in Sweden, and login details for email accounts at the U.K. visa office in Nepal.

The usernames and passwords for more than 100 email accounts were posted online.

Freelance security consultant Dan Egerstad posted the information.

Egerstad told Computer Sweden that he never used the information to log in to any of the compromised accounts in order not to break any laws.

The story indicates the sorry state of security by governments worldwide. As annoying as Egerstad may seem, this is an indication that greater vigilance is needed online. The range of countries hacked also indicates that there is little likelihood that there is an ulterior, financial, or political motive, to the hacks.

"Cut & Run" Sadr Suspends Militia Violence

Graphic Source: AP

The bizarre Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr suspended violent attacks for six months. He is making this move to reign in the rogue elements of his Mahdi Army militia’s operations. The good news is that attacks on American troops are suspended. My hope here is that while this hiatus intervenes, American troops can perform their genuine mission in Iraq, counter-insurgency, and vigorously rooting out elements in Sadr's militia. The suspension by Sadr, is his bowing to pressure hours after his fighters waged running street battles with Iraqi government forces.

Karbala, holy to Shiites, was the scene of battles between Shiite factions which left 52 dead.

Retail Security Flaws

Retail point-of-sale (POS) systems present security flaws for consumer credit card data, according to Neal Krawetz, founder of Hacker Factor Solutions.

Krawetz outlined numerous relatively easily vulnerabilities in POS technologies.

In the last year, no company has responded to Krawetz' inquiry.

One of the most basic limitations of POS is need for standards at the payment level. The Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standard required by all major credit card companies requires businesses to take several measures for protecting cardholder data. However, PCI standards are not available for POS devices or software.

POS terminals that read credit card information, perform card transactions, and receive the confirmation code are easy targets for hackers. According to Krawetz POS terminals often store a relatively high volume of easily accessible credit card data. Most systems purge the data automatically when power is turned off or when transactions are tallied at the end of the day, but this does not occur in every instance.

Krawetz recommends asking the vendor whether payment card data is purged when power is removed from the POS system, finding out how much data can be retained in the device's permanent storage, and how to manually purge the data. Also, companies need to find out whether the data on POS devices is encrypted, whether the permanent storage can be removed, and whether the POS system forces users to change default settings. In addition, companies should find out if the POS device allows back-door access to the data and whether it has any logging functions for tracking activity.

These are serious concerns and I applaud Krawetz for describing them. I would hope the financial industry would take note.

Vista SP1 Beta Only a Few Weeks Away

Graphic source: Odd-Magne Kristoffersen.

Microsoft Corp. confirmed reports that the first service pack for Windows Vista will be out sometime in the first quarter next year.

The first major update to Vista will contain a number of tweaks to speed up the operating system and fix nagging reliability problems, according to David Zipkin, a senior product manager for Windows Vista.

The SP1 beta will be released by the end of September, though it will be limited to no more than 15,000 Microsoft partners and customers. Another beta or release candidate will be distributed to a larger pool of testers before SP1's final release, which is slated for sometime before March 31.

Beta copies of SP1 have already leaked to pirate sites.

The Microsoft message here is to wait for Vista if you haven't implemented it yet; and, XP is still viable because Microsoft will update a Version 3 of XP at the same time.

SP1 will include 19 major changes. Among the most important is to downplay what many find annoying, the User Account Control (UAC) security feature, to be less intrusive. Copying and unzipping files in Vista should be much faster as should the ability of Vista PCs to wake up from standby or hibernate modes. The Bitlocker drive encryption, which formerly could only encrypt the C: drive, can now be used to encrypt other partitions and hard drives.

As for XP SP3, the main new feature is Network Access Protection (NAP), now available only in Vista. NAP reports the security status of a PC to a Windows Server, which can quarantine the PC and block any network traffic to and from the computer if it appears compromised.

SP1 will come in the form of a 50MB .exe file.

This is a mid-level update, not too adventurous, not unnecessary.

ICANN Whois No Privacy Reforms

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has not setteled differences over proposed privacy changes to the WHOIS database. There has been no progress on how to reform the way WHOIS data is handled.

The WHOIS registry is the domain name systems' legacy database; it contains names and contact information of all those who register Internet domains. The contents of the database have been publicly accessible to anyone who wanted it.

Companies, intellectual property holders, and law enforcement authorities favor open access to the WHOIS database on the grounds that it helps them go after phishers, trademark infringers, copyright violators and others. Privacy advocates oppose unrestricted WHOIS access on the grounds that it could expose individual domain registrants to spam and unwanted surveillance.

One of the better proposals was one to shield the contact information of individual domain registrants while making that of commercial registrants publicly accessible. Also, access to shielded WHOIS information could be provided on a one-time basis or on an as-needed basis to those who could demonstrate a valid reason for access to the information. A warrant should reveal all if need be.

There are those who would avail themselves of a proxy, for good or for ill, and law enforcement will always need to be vigilant and perform their appointed tasks to discern the difference.

Chinese Wife Who Has the Aegis

Several Japanese homes of the Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) and a destroyer were raided over a computer data leak. This leak may effect the Aegis missile defense system, the sea-based Standard Missile-3 interceptor system, and the reconnaissance satellite data exchange Link 16 system.

Police were alerted when conducting an immigration-related investigation into the Chinese wife of a JMSDF officer. During the search they came across the data, which included the radar and transmission frequencies of the Aegis system. The officer wasn't authorized to be in possession of the data so the investigation was begun.

He apparently came into possession of the data while swapping pornography with another JMSDF officer, according to a Japanese news source, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

Aegis is an American defense initiative.

Japan would like access to technical details of the F22A Raptor, one of the most technically advanced jets in the U.S. fleet. The U.S. has not accepted the request yet.

I guess this means you can't always trust a wife, or who you can swap pornography with.

Extra-Internetality

During the era of Colonialization, an accused person had the right to be returned to their home country, a British citizen would return to England, for trial: extraterritoriality.

The colonized country would have their laws and persons often violated as a result.

Currently, Yahoo Inc. asked in a 51-page defense filing in the Northern District of California, a federal court, to dismiss a human rights lawsuit. I believe Yahoo is wrong.

Yahoo's Hong Kong subsidiary, Yahoo Hong Kong Ltd., (YHKL), provided information about dissidents to the Chinese government and subsequently a lawsuit was filed against Yahoo by the World Organization for Human Rights USA.

What is clear is that the information supplied led to the persecution, torture and imprisonment of four Chinese dissidents.

Writer Wang Xiaoning was charged on incitement to subvert state power. Wang was sentenced to 10 years in prison in September 2003. Yahoo gave his e-mail account information and IP address to the Chinese government.

Yahoo's defense is that it doesn't condone the suppression of their rights and liberties by their government, it had no control over laws passed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the ways in which those laws were enforced.

I disagree. China does not adhere to international norms and standards and this position makes it more likely that information turned over to Chinese authorities, as opposed to information that might convict child-molesters, and others accused of heinous crimes in the West, might be misused. Yahoo's defense is disingenious.

Would anyone consider China to be a paragon of free speech?

Senator: Surge Is A Success

Senator Mitch McConnell stating the key August news story.

Good Enough for My Grandfather

Philadelphia could spend $47M over 20 years for water billing improvements. The latest of a two decades long effort to replace Philadelphia's aging water billing system could reach nearly $47 million.

Philadelphia Controller Alan Butkovitz released a 29-page report that detailed the costs since 1987 of replacing the city's 30-year-old proprietary Cobol mainframe billing system that still relies on punch cards.

Yes, punch cards, you read that correctly.

Costs have already exceeded $35 million and could reach $46.7 million, the controller's report stated.

Last January, an attempt began to replace the old water billing system with commercial off-the-shelf software for water billing called Basis2 from Prophecy International Pty. of Adelaide, Australia. Most of the previous plan to use Oracle Corp. applications was scrapped.

The Oracle applications cost $18.9 million, twice more than it initially expected to, without getting a working system.

Now, the Prophecy software and related costs will total $6.7 million, bringing the Prophecy and Oracle costs to $25.6 million.

The controller's total cost of $46.7 million includes years of work prior to 2002 when the Oracle work started. There was project creep between 1987 and 2002 which enlarged the initial costs.

I find this appallingly expensive, wasteful, and inefficient but typical of how money was wasted in dead-end projects. The non-innovative East attitude seems to be, if it was good enough for my grandfather, it is good enough for me.

INDEX Prizes Awarded to $100 Laptop, Electric Car

The AP reported that an electric sports car, a prosthetic foot for land mine victims, and a potentially lifesaving device known as the "Tongue Sucker" won in an international award honoring innovative designs.

The INDEX prize also awarded the $100 laptop designed for Third World children.

The Danish award began in 2005 "to celebrate design that not only looks good but also improves lives of people all over the world," according to Kigge Hviid, manager of the award foundation.

"Great design is a way to tell people that you value them," said Yves Behar, a Swiss designer who was part of the team behind the "XO" portable computer.

The laptop is now estimated to now cost $175 which is still inexpensive.

Canadian Sebastien Dubois' prosthetic foot was designed for land mine victims.

The Tesla Roadster electric sports car is made by California-based Tesla Motors.

The Prize awards are available at the INDEX site.

China In the Right Direction

China's recent announcement that it will begin a four-month campaign on tainted food, drugs and exports is a step in the right direction. Unless China begins to play according to international rules and by international standards, it will lose all the good will it earned by offering cheaper products. Consumers have begun to question the "Made in China" label.

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi announced the "war" to focus on the troublesome products that have questioned China's commitment to quality.

The world's largest toymaker, Mattel, often thought of as an American company, recalled more than 18 million Chinese-made toys recently.

Chinese standards have been questioned in numerous products such as toothpaste, animal-food ingredients, tires, eels and seafood, and deadly chemicals in cough medicine.

Not long ago I commented on the execution of Zheng Xiaoyu, who was the former head of the national food and drug safety watchdog, and was executed in July for taking bribes.

Where Are the MRAPs?

The U.S. military needs more MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protector) Vehicles since February 2005 and are only now beginning to receive a small number. I would like to document where the hold up is for these life-savers. Is it Congress, the companies themselves, or plain old bureacracy? Now that the military has given Iraq some breathing room, despite Maliki, our troops deserve the best.

Iraq Intelligence Estimate

Released yesterday, "Prospects for Iraq's Stability," is not filled with light and joy. Iraq is in generally poor condition although it is a bit better in certain areas.

There have been measurable but uneven improvements in Iraq’s security situation since our last National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq in January 2007. The steep escalation of rates of violence has been checked for now, and overall attack levels across Iraq have fallen during seven of the last nine weeks. Coalition forces, working with Iraqi forces, tribal elements, and some Sunni insurgents, have reduced al-Qa’ida in Iraq’s (AQI) capabilities, restricted its freedom of movement, and denied it grassroots support in some areas. However, the level of overall violence, including attacks on and casualties among civilians, remains high; Iraq’s sectarian groups remain unreconciled; AQI retains the ability to conduct high-profile attacks; and to date, Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively. There have been modest improvements in economic output, budget execution, and government finances but fundamental structural problems continue to prevent sustained progress in economic growth and living conditions.

The conclusion is to stay the course:

We assess that changing the mission of Coalition forces from a primarily counterinsurgency and stabilization role to a primary combat support role for Iraqi forces and counterterrorist operations to prevent AQI from establishing a safehaven would erode security gains achieved thus far.

On this report, an interesting comment was made:

I . . . want to mention a common mentality I've noticed in Americans. They're angry at Bush, the administration, etc. and believe they're incompetent, liars and crooks. Without touching that subject, let me say that whatever you believe they may have done, you must not let it cloud your judgments of what's happening NOW. However sincerely angry you may be at their past actions (and inactions) you should be cautious in how much you let it effect your assessment of what they are doing now. During April I went home on leave and encountered countless people who wanted immediate pull-out of Iraq. Their most common reason for this decision seems to be their absolute disappointment in how the administration presented the war case and how they handled Iraq post-Saddam. And it always followed that their description of the "surge", along with anything else the president said, was cast in this light.

The "Surge" - strong military action and an altered (read: actual) battle plan - has shown genuine progress. There's no doubt that this battle plan should have been initiated immediately upon the fall of Saddam. The American people sat and watched years and American lives go by with no (actual) progress whatsoever. So it seems natural that the administration now seems as though it's merely spinning its wheels.

But they're not. Yes, it's late. Yes, people believe they were lied to. Yes, they question the competence and integrity of the administration. But you cannot let this override your judgment of what's currently happening. It's important not to forget it, certainly, but you cannot let knee-jerk disappointment rule your sense. How many people here have actually read the Iraqi benchmarks and which ones they've met? When they were established they hadn't met ANY of them, and already they're making progress. I must sound like an administration spin-machine, but my boots, right now, are in Iraq. I see it first-hand every day

.

Posted by: SPC Haight Aug 23, 2007 1:38:05 PM

I agree with Haight. I took my time and did not let my frustration with the Administration misguide me. The contemporary Iraq situation has been long in coming, but rather than conclude its hopeless, I actually began tracking deaths, goals met, and screened out the misinformation. Sure enough, there are prospects for hope in the morass. The military has accomplished the mission of the surge. They did what they were asked to do, at great sacrifice.

Alternative Ending to "The Invasion"

Graphic source: Wikipedia Public License.

If you plan to see The Invasion, then don't read the following because I'm going to spoil the ending for you. I caught this update from the classic B-movie original and I thought of a better way to end it.

Our heroine, in the update, looks fondly at her beloved while he is still sleeping as the morning news drones out grim statistics of people being killed while she forlornfully listens to the radio drinking her coffee. She is obviously troubled and we are left with the impression that maybe total peace is the path to follow after all.

The peace route, completely restraining people and repressing them though, was what the alien bug offered during the horror of the movie we just experienced.

On the other hand, a better ending is my version.

Our heroine, waking up from a dream filled with the alien special effects bug we saw throughout the film, awakens her. Now, we would be left to wonder, was it all a dream? Or, did what we just saw really happen? We would be left to wonder. And, this would lead to a possible sequel. What are those bugs in her head? Where did they come from? Will they emerge?

To sweeten the pot and add to the mystery, our protagonist's beloved, could be arising from slumber at the same time, but as he gets out of bed he limps. The limp could be from what we had experienced in the movie, our protagonist shot him during the film, or, he may just limp. We don't know.

In any case, this alternative ending would heighten the mystery and add to the tense moments we experienced in the film.

In case one still needs to see the classic original, here is a summary of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

The theme of the cautionary, politicized film was open to varying interpretations, including paranoia toward the spread of a harmful ideology such as socialistic Communism, or the sweeping mass hysteria of McCarthyism in the 1950s and blacklisting of Hollywood, the spread of an unknown malignancy or virulent germ (read fear of annihilation by 'nuclear war'), or the numbing of our individuality and emotional psyches through conformity and group-think. Yet its main theme was the alien (read 'Communist') dehumanization and take-over of an entire community by large seed pods (found in basements, automobile trunks, a greenhouse, and on a pool table) that replicated and replaced human beings. And it told of the heroic struggle of one helpless but determined man of conscience, a small-town doctor (McCarthy), to vainly combat and quell the deadly, indestructible threat.

Tim Dirks

Tenet, Long Before Bush, Unprepared

The former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, George J. Tenet, failed to prepare the U.S. for the terrorist threat.

To Tenet’s shame he failed to prepare this country, the President--Clinton--for the terrorist threat. This fact, long before Bush, was clear from the 9/11 Commission report.

The recently released C.I.A. report merely, but importantly, confirms how not surprising Bush was ill informed regarding the terrorist threat upon becoming president. Clinton vacillates according to my reading of the 9/11 testimony. Therefore, it is not surprising that Bush inherited a vague policy against largely unknown actors.

According to the internal report, Tenet recognized the danger posed by Al Qaeda long before 11 September 2001, but he failed to adequately prepare the C.I.A. to meet the threat.

The document was completed in June 2005 but was kept classified until now.

Still, the report is old news and reminds me of the 9/11 Commission findings. That body concluded that “a failure of imagination” had made intelligence agencies unable to fully discern the growing peril of Al Qaeda, and that communication lapses within the C.I.A. and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and between those agencies had hobbled efforts to “connect the dots” of intelligence data and effectively pursue Al Qaeda terrorists, even after some of them had entered the United States.

The inspector general’s report stated that “it reaches the same overall conclusions on most of the important issues” as the Commission.

Clinton will not take the fall for this, as Bush has been pilloried over the issue, but Tenet was once in charge of all federal intelligence agencies and the report noted that he said as far back as 1998 that “we are at war” with Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

However, Tenet failed to create “a documented, comprehensive plan to guide the counterterrorism effort at the intelligence community level.”

Clinton failed to grasp the urgency of the threat in 1998 since Tenet failed to follow up his understanding that terrorism was a critical threat. Not surprising, Bush never got this type of word as he entered the presidency.

Bush will continue to take the heat for the failings of others but he was not president in 1998 when the threat by America's leading intelligence authority grasped the critical nature of Osama's efforts.

Only a Summary of the report has been released in the de-classification.

G.ho.st Sorta' Spooky

Graphic source: G.ho.st.

G.ho.st, which stands for Global Hosted Operating SysTem, has not arrived. Ghost Inc.'s Ghost: bills itself as the "Everywhere OS" but having tried it I would not say it works seamlessly. The interface is a mish-mash of Windows and Mac, so this might turn off both adherents of their favorite OS.

I like the basic concept. The idea is that the Windows and Mac model of your operating system, including all your favorite applications and data, are sealed inside one physical computer, and this manner of working and storing files is obsolete. According to Ghost’s creator, Zvi Schreiber, this is their raison d' etre.

The point sounds good but Ghost is sluggish in execution. I found the interface cluttered, my keyboard strokes were not easily picked up by Ghost, and thus my first impression was not a seamless experience.

Ghost should be a Web-hosted image of your desktop or laptop: a virtual computer that can be accessed by any client device via a Web browser. Maybe.

The `Wow Factor' for the "The Everywhere OS" did not materialize.

You can't beat the price though: Ghost is free for users.

Schreiber says a revenue stream will arise from vendors who remit fees to the company when they sell products or services to Ghost users.

To be fair, it should be mentioned that Ghost is in an alpha, “open to the public” release at the Ghost site.

Ghost is built from OpenLaszlo, an open-source platform for the development and delivery of Web applications that have the appearance and functions of traditional desktop applications.

I'll look in from time to time but I was not thrilled by the first experience.

Ghost is my second review of the top ten cool tools. The first review and product of those chosen by Computerworld came off better than Ghost.

Twisted Mickey: Hamas Martyrs Micky Mouse as Children's TV Entertainment

Graphic source: MEMRI.

Transcript Source: The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

June 29, 2007 Clip No. 1497

Farfour, Hamas' Mickey Mouse Character, Is 'Martyred' in the Final Episode of the "Pioneers of Tomorrow" Children Show on Hamas TV.

Following are excerpts from the final episode of "The Pioneers of Tomorrow," a children's TV show featuring Farfour, a Mickey Mouse character in a tuxedo, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on June 29, 2007:

Farfour's grandfather: I want to give you something in trust before I die, and I want you to safeguard it, Farfour.

Farfour: What is it this trust I am supposed to safeguard, grandpa?

[...]

Farfour's grandfather: This land, which was [occupied] in 1948, is the land I inherited from my fathers and forefathers. I want you to protect it. It is a beautiful land, all covered in flowers and olive and palm trees. I want you to take care of it, Farfour.

Farfour: What is this land called, grandpa?

Farfour's grandfather: The land is called Tel Al-Rabi'. But unfortunately, the Jews called it "Tel Aviv" after they occupied it.

[...]

I want you to safeguard this, Farfour. Keep this key with you. When the land is regained, use this key, Farfour.

Farfour: This key, grandpa?

Farfour's grandfather: That's right. And these are the documents proving that the land is ours, Farfour. I am entrusting you with this, Farfour. Make sure you don't give up the land, Farfour.

Farfour: Don't worry, grandpa.

Farfour's grandfather: Farfour, I am very tired. I feel that I am about to die. I feel very close to the land of Tel Al-Rabi'. I hope you will protect it.

Farfour: Yes. Grandpa... Grandpa...

Farfour's grandfather: Grandpa entrusted me with this great trust, but I don't know how to liberate this land from the filth of the criminal, plundering Jews, who killed my grandpa and everybody.

"Farfour is interrogated"

Farfour: What do you want from me? Why have you brought me here?

Israeli interrogator: Sit down, my dear Farfour.

Farfour: I don't want to.

Interrogator: Sit down, Farfour.

Farfour: Okay, I will sit down.

Tell me what you want.

Interrogator: We've heard your grandfather gave you the keys and the documents of the land.

Farfour: Who told you?

Interrogator: It's none of your business who told us, Farfour. What we need...

Farfour: Well, what do you want from me?

Interrogator: Farfour, we want you to give us the land documents.

Farfour: These are the land documents which my grandpa entrusted to me, so that I would safeguard them and use them to liberate Jerusalem. When the lands are liberated, we will go and live there. Give them to you? My grandpa didn't tell me to give them to you.

Interrogator: You'll get lots of money, and we'll take the documents, and that't it.

Farfour: No, we're not the kind of peole who sell their land to terrorists.

Interrogator: Farfour, give us the documents we want.

Farfour: I'm not giving you the documents.

Interrogator: Farfour!

Farfour: I won't give you the documents.

Interrogator: Give us the documents, Farfour. Will you or will you not give us the documents, Farfour?

Farfour: I won't give them to criminal despicable terrorists.

Interrogator: You're calling us despicable terrorists, Farfour?

"Farfour in prison"

Host, Saraa, a young girl: Yes, my dear children, we have lost our dearest friend, Farfour. Farfour was martyred while defending his land, the land of his fathers and his forefathers. He was martyred at the hand of the criminals, the murderers, the murderers of innocent children, who killed Iman Hijo, Muhammad Al-Dura, and many others.

Cf. MEMRI

Raw Data for Petraeus

Petraeus and the U.S. military came through to provide an opportunity for the surge to work. What didn't work is the fledging government of Maliki and Iraq. The surge provided breathing room and is an impressive effort against all odds. The surge put more troops in harm's way than ever before; yet, American losses are down. The U.S. military provided space for Iraq to settle political differences.

If Iraq is to make it, it is up to the Iraqis to make it work. The U.S. military did its part; it is high time for Iraq to do the same. Despite recent talks with opposition leaders I would not be optimistic about Maliki's chances of success.

Deaths due to IED’s are down for the third month in a row.

Combat deaths due to causes other than IED’s are at one of the lowest points in the last twelve months.

Last statement: January 15 through May 31, 3,184 Enemy KIA, 6 IED cells dismantled; 17,946 detained.

This is a summary of what we know by tracking deaths in Iraq by: Period, US deaths, Total deaths, and Average number of deaths in the month:

8-2007, 49, 53, 2.52;

7-2007, 79, 88, 2.84;

6-2007, 101, 108, 3.6;

5-2007, 126, 131, 4.23;

4-2007, 104, 117, 3.9;

3-2007, 81, 82, 2.65;

2-2007, 81, 85, 3.04;

1-2007, 83, 86, 2.77;

12-2006, 112, 115, 3.71;

11-2006, 70, 78, 2.6;

10-2006, 106, 110, 3.55;

9-2006, 72, 77, 2.5.

The raw data is hard to read in this format and in the table below but the message and numbers are clear. The U.S. is experiencing fewer deaths and casualties in Iraq.

Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
8-2007 49 4 0 53 2.52 21
7-2007 79 8 1 88 2.84 31
6-2007 101 7 0 108 3.6 30
5-2007 126 3 2 131 4.23 31
4-2007 104 12 1 117 3.9 30
3-2007 81 1 0 82 2.65 31
2-2007 81 3 1 85 3.04 28
1-2007 83 3 0 86 2.77 31
12-2006 112 1 2 115 3.71 31
11-2006 70 6 2 78 2.6 30
10-2006 106 2 2 110 3.55 31
9-2006 72 3 2 77 2.57 30

Gunplay Kills the Net

Computerworld explained why my Net was so slow yesterday. I wondered why. Apparently gunplay that damaged a network cable near Cleveland was blamed for an Internet slowdown.

Internet service providers in the U.S. experienced a service slowdown yesterday after fiber-optic cables near Cleveland were apparently sabotaged by gunfire.

TeliaSonera AB lost the northern leg of its U.S. network. Technicians pulled up the affected cable, it appeared to have been shot, according to Anders Olausson, a TeliaSonera spokesman.

If just anyone can shoot out a cable and down the Net then our infrastructure is not really very secure now is it?

Iran's Abuse of Academic Freedom for Iranian-Americans

Graphic source: The Wilson Center.

The AP reported today that a detained Iranian-American academic accused of conspiring against the Iranian government was freed on bail. Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, had been in a Tehran prison since early May.

Iranian authorities investigated Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, another detained Iranian-American, who was also accused of conspiring against the country's security.

Esfandiari was broadcast on Iranian televsion on a video which also featured Tajbakhsh, an urban planning consultant with the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute. Some have found the broadcast to have been coerced.

Two other Iranian-Americans face security-related charges: Parnaz Azima, a journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Farda, and Ali Shakeri, a founding board member of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding at the University of California, Irvine. Shakeri is in prison, while Azima is free but barred from leaving Iran.

No developments were announced in the case of the other three Iranian-Americans.

The Wilson Center is a nonpartisan institution established by Congress in 1968 and funded through private and public funds. Its Middle East program focuses on several areas, including "analysis of internal domestic and social developments in Iran; the aspiration of the younger generation for reform and expansion of individual liberties."