To “celebrate” the 58th independence day of Israel today, Israeli hackers hacked several Iranian web sites such as the ministry of sciences and technology (which is responsible for the development of nuclear technology in Iran), ministry of commerce and others.

Visitors to the hacked web site got redirected to a web site filled with messages, and some history and geography lessons to the Muslim world and to the Iranians people .

A message from the hackers:

“Unlike Islam’s Koran, which commands Muslims to force the entire planet to submit to literal control by Islam, the Jewish Torah promises the children of Israel a modest and reasonable allotment of land. Israel in RED , is a democratic nation 1/19th the size of California, surrounded by 22 hostile Arab/Islamic dictatorships with 640 times her size, 60 times her population and ALL the oil. How dare Arab propagandists call Israel “expansionist!” And how dare anyone believe them! How can Israel, which occupies one-sixth of one percent of the lands called Arab, be responsible for the political dissatisfaction of 22 Arab countries? How can the 13 million Jews in the world (almost 5 million fewer than they were in 1939!) be blamed for the problems of the 300 million Arabs, who have brotherly ties to 1.4 billion Muslims worldwide?”

The hacked page also contains a map of the Arab countries, a brief history of the Jews in Iran, and a list of Islamic vs Jewish Nobel Prize winners.

After the discovery the hacked web sites went off line for several hours until they got restored. Since the hackers did not destroy any database, nor erased any files from the hacked sites (only planted a redirect tag) the hacked websites are now fully operational.

U.S. authorities said on Wednesday they had filed suit against five online companies, charging they had illegally sold confidential phone records.

The Federal Trade Commission said it is asking a court to bar the sale of the phone records and force the companies to give up the money they made with their operations.

Source: eWeek

Apple Computer’s Korean online store has been defaced by an intruder.

The attack, apparently carried out by someone working under the name “Dinam,” who claimed in his online posting to be Turkish, was brought to the attention of Silicon.com last Thursday.

The defacement was removed from Apple’s Web site shortly after Silicon.com alerted the company, which has subsequently declined to comment on the matter.

Source: News.com

Broadband providers and Internet phone companies will have to pick up the tab for the cost of building in mandatory wiretap access for police surveillance, federal regulators ruled Wednesday.

The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to levy what likely will amount to wiretapping taxes on companies, municipalities and universities, saying it would create an incentive for them to keep costs down and that it was necessary to fight the war on terror. Universities have estimated their cost to be about $7 billion.

Source: ZDNet

Borland Software Corp. said Wednesday it will cut its work force by around 300 employees, representing about 20 percent of its regular full-time staff.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company, which makes database and application development software, said the majority of staff reductions will come from the reorganization of its international operations.

The job cuts, in conjunction with plans for geographic consolidation and the divestiture of its developer tools group, will yield annualized cost savings of around $60 million, the company said.

Source: AP

Microsoft has shelved plans to include native support for RSA’s SecurID tokens in Windows Vista, even though the company has been trialling the technology for almost two years.

It is unclear if Microsoft’s decision to not include support for SecurID for Windows is related to the fact that Vista will include a password management system called InfoCards, which was announced by Microsoft’s Gates at the RSA Security Conference in California earlier this year.

Source: ZDNet

The Bush administration is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that would use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit.

The largely secret project, parts of which have been made public through Air Force budget documents submitted to Congress in February, is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space weapons, both defensive and offensive. No treaty or law forbids such work.

Source: NY Times

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will start selling build-your-own-computer components in more than one-third of its U.S. discount stores this month.

Such components include central processing units (CPU) as well as monitors, keyboards and mice that customers can combine to create customized packages.

Source: Reuters

A judge has approved a class-action settlement requiring Netflix Inc. to offer a free month of DVDs to 5.5 million current and former subscribers, resolving a case that prompted the online rental service to acknowledge it gives preferential treatment to its most profitable customers.

Source: AP

High-tech thieves are becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to stealing automobiles equipped with keyless entry and ignition systems. While many computer-based security systems on automobiles require some type of key — mechanical or otherwise — to start the engine, so-called ‘keyless’ setups require only the presence of a key fob to start the engine.

The expert gang suspected of stealing two of David Beckham’s BMW X5 SUVs in the last six months did so by using software programs on a laptop to wirelessly break into the car’s computer, open the doors, and start the engine.

Source: Leftlanenews.com

Security companies alerted users Tuesday of a worm that spreads via instant messaging, plants a bot on hijacked PCs, and poses a special challenge to researchers hoping to trace the bot back to its controller.

Dubbed “Nagache.a” the worm propagates through AIM and MSN Messenger, as well as via e-mail and network shares. It will also install in a drive-by download - a secret installation invisible to the user - if the PC isn’t patched against a pair of 2004 vulnerabilities in Windows.

Source: InformationWeek

A Boston law firm has filed a class-action suit against Activision, the world’s second-largest video game maker, alleging that the company failed to pay overtime to employees as required by law.

Source: News.com