I. Read the text and divide it into logical parts. Give a headline for each of them.

According to a report in the Times of London, banks, brokerage houses, and investment firm in both the United State and the United Kingdom have paid off criminal who threatened to attack their computer systems. The report said that gangs of online terrorists have alive with up to 400 million pounds worldwide by issuing threats that they will destroy the computer systems of companies who do not meet their monetary demands.

Hackers cost businesses worldwide an estimated $800 million in 1995 through break-ins to computer systems at banks, hospitals and other large businesses according to investigators of the Senate's Permanent Investigations Subcommittee. Despite the rough losses, few businesses report the security breaches for fear of negative publicity that could scare the customers and most losses incurred by banks do not appear in required federal reports, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The subcommittee's eight-month investigation showed that security problems seem to be worse in the private sector than in government. More than $400 million of the calculated losses were attributed to U.S. businesses.

Fear of hacker attacks his has prompted many corporate users to aid budgets for security spending. A study conducted by The Yankee Group and Infosecurity News showed that corporate security budgets have already increased by 25 percent with more increases expected this year.

The blackmailers demonstrate their ability to make good on their threats by using advanced information warfare techniques developed by the military. The National Security Agency says the criminals have access to the computer systems using coded devices called "logic bombs" that can be detonated by remote, electromagnetic pulses, and high-emission radio frequency guns. The terrorists have said and leave messages at the highest security levels that read, "Now do you believe we can destroy your computers?"

First, the gangs threatened senior directors of financial institutions and demonstrated their ability to crash their systems in four incidents reported in London. In each case, the firm transferred money to an offshore bank account, cash that the gang removed within minutes, the report said. In three of the cases, the blackmail demand was 10 million pounds. The fourth victim paid 12.5 million pounds.

Both the FBI and Scotland Yard are currently investigating incidents of computer extortion. But banking officials told the Times that they are reluctant to contact the police about the attacks because they fear the publicity would result in a loss of customer confidence in their ability to protect sensitive financial data. Instead, many companies seek help from private investigating firms that offer protection from the attacks.

Second, the two largest credit card associations have released a new version of their security protocol to protect credit card transactions over the Internet, moving a step closer to secure card transactions on the net.

The revised draft of the Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) specifications, released by Visa and Master Card International, reflects the input of more than 3,000 public comments from 76 nations received since the first draft was posted. SET outlines standards for an end-to-end system for secure transactions and includes software for four distinct groups : cardholders, merchants, payment gateways, and banks. SET is designed to guard against theft or merchant fraud in other large businesses. Hackers cost businesses worldwide an estimated $800 million in handling bank card transactions over the net.

Master Card research indicated that 90 percent of Internet users in the United States would like to shop online but that 60 percent say they don't because of security concerns.

The companies also still need to select a software vendor to produce a "reference implementation" of SET, a sample way for electronic commerce software developers to incorporate SET into various pieces of software. With the final specification and reference platform in place, the way would be cleared for online retailers to offer SET-secured transactions to limited numbers of consumers by year's end, with full-scale roll-outs anticipated in early 1997.

Several companies have already announced plans to create software that implements SET including Netscape Communications, Microsoft, IBM, Terisa Systems, VeriFone, and CyberCash.

But securing card transactions over the net takes more than software; it also requires consumers and merchants to obtain "digital Ids" from a certifications authority to vouch for their identities. Neither Visa nor Master Card have announced a certification authority partner yet.

Third, in an effort to make consumers more confident about online shopping by ensuring that financial transactions and personal data won't be intercepted by hackers, the national Computers Security Association and the Better Business Bureau are launching new service method to keep an eye on electronic merchants and their services.

Under a program to be announced, the computer association will certify that a given Web site is secure by testing its servers on ten security criteria. Web sites that pass muster will able to display a certified logo. The association, with about 2,000 dues-paying members, is known mostly for its monitoring of computer viruses and the tools used to exterminate them. But the organization has begun moving into other aspects of computer security.

As reported last week by CNET, the Better Business Bureau today announced a parallel service designed to separate legitimate online businesses from scams by randomly monitoring participating Web sites. Participating businesses will likewise display an encrypted BBBOnLine seal on their advertisements.

"No single vendor or product can address the global problem of security on the Internet, but certification of Web sites will lead to both an important reduction in risk as well as an improved understanding of security across the Net," said Computer Association President Peter Trippett.

The organization's criteria, developed in conjunctions with Georgia Tech specify the use of association-certified firewalls or other securities measures and use of encryption, such as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or SHTTP (Secure Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). The certification process also requires that sites avoid the use of "cookies" to record sensitive data and that they maintain log files and documentation of back-end transaction process.

"It's going to give us for the web site more confidence that information they are submitting online is not going to be hacked/'said Sam Glesner, Association Consortia Manager. He added that a group will also finally offer to certify Internet servers.

The testing process will be based both on tests run remotely and on-site visits conducted by Ernst & Young Glesner. Association expects Web hosting companies, catalogers, business-to-business marketers, or any site that handles financial transactions to sign on to the program. The organization says several sites are being processed now under a beta program but they are no names.

The Better Business Bureau service won't launch until the first quarter of 1997 and its requirements will focus on customer service records but the bureau standard's are rigorous in their own way. The criterias are :

• being in business at leastsix months

• providing the bureau with substantial information

• regarding company ownership and management and their prior business records

• answering all complaints sent to the Bureau

• not having any repeated or continuing patterns of the same complaint

• agreeing to participate in the bureau's advertising self-regulation program and correcting or withdrawing advertising found by the bureau to be unsubstantiated

• handling complaints online if the complaints are transmitted electronically by bureau

• agreeing to binding arbitration by the bureau if a dispute cannot be resolved using a company existing customer satisfaction programs.

Consumer who click on advertisements that display the BBBOnline seal will be connected to a report describing a company's management and time in business, relevant aspects of its services, complaints and examples of market behavior, and the bureau conclusions regarding its marketplace record. Start-up costs for the bureau's service are being met by a long list of main sponsors, all of whom have invested heavily in either using or promoting electronic commerce system and would like to improve the customer perception of their reliability.

Some statisticians care about using the surveys to make generalizations about all U.S. corporations. "If you 're just targeting your survey to members of a particular group, you can't really say anything about organizations outside that group," said Ann Kalinowski, senior statistician at Failure Analysis Associates.

Regardless of the statistical validity of the survey, several Internet rights organizations, such as the Center for Democracy and Technology, are citing the survey to gather support for a new bill introduced by Senator Conrad Bums to loosen the government regulation of encryption technology. They claim that a broader use of encryption technology, now limited by commerce laws that forbid the exportation of encryption software would cut down on the incident of Net break-ins.

Paul Surijahardja