PGP, Security & Spam

The world's most popular software for scrambling sensitive e-mails — Pretty Good Privacy, or PGP — suffers from a programming flaw that could allow hackers to attack a user's computer and, in some circumstances, unscramble messages.

According to researchers at Syracuse University, Sharp's Linux-based handheld suffers from security holes that could let hackers grab private data off a corporate network.

The state of Washington filed suit yesterday against two Minnesota men under its anti-spam law, an action one privacy advocate called proof that the state is serious about stanching the flood of unsolicited e-mail threatening to drown the Internet. While the Federal Government's Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has been lambasted by Union officials for allegedly spamming employees with a 'hard sell' on a new enterprise agreement.