ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270027
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COMPUTER BITS
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
Recently in Congress, a cellular phone was hooked to a laptop computer loaded with readily available software and every cell phone conversation within range showed up on the computer screen.
All our lawmakers had to do to eavesdrop was to click on one of the entries. The demonstration was done to support the need for legislation Roanoke Republican Bob Goodlatte introduced in the House of Representatives last month.
The Internet isn't safe for business, Goodlatte said. Cellular phone conversations aren't necessarily private, and digital phones aren't as secure as everyone thought.
Goodlatte made a sweep into four communities Wednesday promoting the need for more secure communications, which is the subject of his bill, H.R. 695, the Security and Freedom through Encryption Act of 1997.
The proposed legislation would make it possible for encryption software to be exported from the United States anywhere in the world. Banks in New York could then talk to branches in Hong Kong, and safe on-line banking would exist, Goodlatte said. It also means that U.S. companies that produce the software can produce it in America and export it.
Goodlatte has 65 co-sponsors for his bill, including members of both parties. The only thing blocking encryption is U.S. policy, fueled by the concern of the CIA and FBI that encryption would be misued by criminals, Goodlatte said.
If you have an opinion on this issue, call or write your representative or senator.
And if you want to read about the encryption issue, search on the name of the act or consult the sites listed with this column.
Hail, HAL!
You remember HAL, don't you? HAL, of course, is HAL 9000, the mean-spirited supercomputer in "2001: A Space Odyssey."
A group of students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed a Web site, Obelisk, that documents the movie's impact on science and science fiction.
Female mathematicians
Meet Hypatia, born about 355-370 A.D. in Alexandria, Egypt, and a first-rate mathematician. Hypatia's biography, along with those of more than 100 other women who have made a difference in math can be found at a site managed and written by students at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.
SAFE
http://www.privacy.org/ipc/
http://www.crypto.com/
HAL 9000
http://www.uiuc.edu/unit/pa/obelisk/
Women Mathematicians
http://www.scottlan.edu/lriddle/women/women.htm/
You can contribute to this column or just comment by sending an E-mail to sandrakxc2roanoke.com or by calling 981-3393 or 981-3237 in the Roanoke Valley, or (800) 346-1234, extension 393, outside the Roanoke area. Previous Computer Bits columns can be found on line at http://www.roanoke.com
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB