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Persistant illegal file sharers to be disconnected

People who persistently download illegal content will be cut off from the net, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has announced.

Speaking at a government-sponsored forum he said the UK would introduce a similar policy to France.

It means persistent pirates will be sent two warning letters before facing disconnection from the network.

ISP TalkTalk said the plans were "ill-conceived" and said it was prepared to challenge measures "in the courts".

"What is being proposed is wrong in principle and won't work in practice," the firm said.

"In the event we are instructed to impose extra judicial technical measures we will challenge the instruction in the courts."

Mr Mandelson said that cutting internet connections would be a "last resort".

Hotmail Accounts Hacked & Online

Thousands of Hotmail passwords have been hacked and posted online, BBC News has learnt.

Microsoft, which owns the popular web-based e-mail system, said that it was aware of the claims and that it was "investigating the situation".

BBC News has seen a list of more than 10,000 accounts, which technology blog Neowin.net said had been posted online.

The blog suggested the accounts had been hacked or had been collected as part of a phishing scheme.

Phishing involves using fake websites to lure people into revealing personal details such as bank accounts or login names and passwords.

"At the moment we don't know how the hackers got the passwords or how many they got," Graham Cluley, consultant at security firm Sophos, told BBC News.

"It could just be a subset that they posted online."

'Rapid response'

Neowin claims the details were posted on 1 October to pastebin.com, a website commonly used by developers to share code.

Although the details have since been removed, BBC News and Neowin has seen a list of 10,028 names beginning with the letters A and B.

BBC News has confirmed that the accounts are genuine.

"Most appear to be based in Europe," Tom Warren, a neowin blogger, wrote on the site.

Hacker Idol

The UK government has launched plans to find the best young hackers through a talent competition.

Would-be cyberdefenders will be rated on their abilities to thwart attacks and hack into websites. Winners will be offered courses by the respected SANS Institute and assigned mentors.

University course and work placements also form part of the putative programme, due to take its first intake late next year, The Times reports.

Hack Idol may be a catchy concept, and it's easy to see how eccentric security minister Lord West - who famously reckons reformed naughty-boy hackers might play an important role in Britain's cyber-defence - might get sold on the idea.

In addition, there's a precedent from across the Atlantic. The UK scheme resembles the much larger US Cyber Challenge programme which is "looking for 10,000 young Americans with the skills to fill the ranks of cyber security practitioners, researchers, and warriors".

The winner of the first US Cyber Challenge was Michael Coppola, 17, of Connecticut, who gained plaudits for breaking into the scoring system and awarding himself extra points - a move straight out of cult haxploitation flick WarGames.

Sounds like good fun, but the idea of taking the now-ubiquitous TV talent show/glorified karaoke concept and applying it to computer security to find the next Neo sounds more than a little wrong-headed.

Chris Boyd (aka Paperghost), a security researcher at FaceTime, responded to the idea by saying the UK might just as well use a "complex system of water divining, Pagan ritual and astronomy to find the best hackers".

* Source The Register

UK File Sharers to be cut off

The UK government is to announce that people who consistently download films and music illegally will be cut off from the net.

The announcement will come in the form of an amendment to the Digital Britain report, launched in June.

It is believed that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has intervened personally to beef up the report.

The amendment will make it easier for internet service providers to act against pirates.

ISPs have said it is not their job to police the web.

It is likely there will be widespread anger from ISPs over the u-turn.

Much of the Digital Britain report is dedicated to ways to get people online and many felt that a policy of cutting off persistent downloaders would go against this ethos.

* Source BBC News

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