Key Provitions of USA Patriot Act?

Section 201 -- Gives federal officials the authority to
intercept wire, spoken and electronic communications
relating to terrorism.

Section 202 -- Gives federal officials the authority to
intercept wire, spoken and electronic communications
relating to computer fraud and abuse offenses.

Subsection 203(b) -- Permits the sharing of grand jury
information that involves foreign intelligence or
counterintelligence with federal law enforcement,
intelligence, protective,immigration, national
defense or national security officials.

Subsection 203(d) -- Gives foreign intelligence or
counterintelligence officers the ability to share
foreign intelligence information obtained as part
of a criminal investigation with law enforcement.

Section 204 -- Makes clear that nothing in the law
regarding pen registers -- an electronic device
which records all numbers dialed from a particular
phone line -- stops the government's ability to
obtain foreign intelligence information.

Section 206 -- Allows federal officials to issue roving
"John Doe" wiretaps, which allow investigators to
listen in on any telephone and tap any computer they
think a suspected spy or terrorist might use.

Section 207 -- Increases the amount of time that federal
officials may watch people they suspect are spies or
terrorists.

Section 209 -- Permits the seizure of voicemail messages
under a warrant.

Section 212 -- Permits Internet service providers and
other electronic communication and remote computing
service providers to hand over records and e-mails
to federal officials in emergency situations.

Section 214 -- Allows use of a pen register or trap and
trace devices that record originating phone numbers
of all incoming calls in international terrorism or
spy investigations.

Section 215 -- Authorizes federal officials to obtain
"tangible items" like business records, including
those from libraries and bookstores,for foreign
intelligence and international terrorism
investigations.

Section 217 -- Makes it lawful to intercept the wire or
electronic communication of a computer hacker or
intruder in certain circumstances.

Section 218 -- Allows federal officials to wiretap or
watch suspects if foreign intelligence gathering is
a "significant purpose" for seeking a Federal
Intelligence Surveillance Act order. The pre-Patriot
Act standard said officials could ask for the
surveillance only if it was the sole or main purpose.

Section 220 -- Provides for nationwide service of search
warrants for electronic evidence.

Section 223 -- Amends the federal criminal code to provide
for administrative discipline of federal officers or
employees who violate prohibitions against unauthorized
disclosures of information gathered under this act.

Section 225 -- Amends FISA to prohibit lawsuits against
people or companies that provide information to federal
officials for a terrorism investigation.

Sours:newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005

What is privacy protection on the Law?

While currently there is no national law to protect the privacy of the information you share online, federal law and state law do offer some protection to various kinds of personal information collected about you. At the national level, Congress has enacted laws as it perceived the need to arise. Therefore, you will see from the list below that you have privacy rights in specific kinds of information—information maintained about you in the health care system, your education records, the record of your video rentals, to name a few.

At the same time, the states have exercised their strong interest in protecting their citizens as consumers, patients, students and participants in civic life. Some states have enacted protections beyond those provided in national law; others offer more limited protection.

www.consumerprivacyguide.org/law/ - Cached - Similar

What is Privacy in Computer?

Nowadays we use computers and the Internet everywhere - we do our banking, read books, find different kinds of information, plan holidays and more. The list is endless. But on the other side Internet is full of potential risk to our privacy and security. It is like a mirror that shows all tracks of our computer and Internet activity - every time we surf the Internet we leave traces of our Internet activity that can reveal our real-life identity. And anyone even without special computer skills can monitor our surfing habits, banking history and even our personal information like name, phone, address. Everyone has an IP address to communicate on the Internet, IP address is like a telephone number or mailing address. Using your IP it is possible to know your country, city, internet provider and even physical address.
While surfing the Internet browsers keep tracks of our Internet activity in order to provide a more pleasant computer and surfing experience. But these history tracks can compromise our privacy and provide an easy way for others to see what web sites you visited, what you have been searching, downloading, viewing, etc.
Windows and different applications we use keep tracks about your computer activity in order to provide a more pleasant computer experience. But those history tracks can also compromise our privacy and show what you have been doing, searching, downloading, running, saving, what documents and files you have just opened etc.
So while there are lots of things that we have gained from the computer revolution there is a price we have to pay. And the price is our computer privacy. Of course there is no simple solution for this problem. But inactivity is also impossible. There are some simple steps everyone could do. There are different tools available to help us maintain our privacy - anonymous surfing tools, encryption software, clear history software. When your PC is equipped with privacy software, it has the greatest chance of surviving privacy or security attacks.
www.askwebhosting.com/article/129/Computer-privacy.html - Cached - Similar

Who are the computer criminals and what are ther objectives?

Some are mentally deranged, overtly hostile, or extremely committed to a cause, and they attack computers as a symbol. Others are ordinary people tempted by personal profit, revenge, challenge, advancement, or job security. The computer criminals attack the programs.


Objective:


The computer criminals seldom change fields from arson, murder, or auto theft to computing; more often, criminals begin as computer professionals who engage in computer crime, finding the prospects and payoff good. Electronic spies and information brokers have begun to recognize that trading in companies' or individuals' secrets can be lucrative.

www.crime-research.org/library/Golubev_nov1.html

ZERO-DAYS-ATTACK

A zero day attack, also known as a zero hour attack, takes advantage of computer vulnerabilities that do not currently have a solution. Typically, a software company will discover a bug or problem with a piece of software after it has been released and will offer a patch — another piece of software meant to fix the original issue. A zero day attack will take advantage of that problem before a patch has been created. It is named zero day because it occurs before the first day the vulnerability is known.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_day_attack