
        LIFEFILES
        
        
        IF THIS IS A HACKER, IT MUST BE BELGIUM
        
        According to the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, a computer 
        hacker has been reading some pretty important electronic 
        mail--the private computer correspondence of the Belgian 
        Prime Minister himself!
        
        Prime Minister Wilfried Martens has ordered an investigation 
        into the paper's reports, which interviewed the hacker and 
        watched as he used Martens password-code of nine letters, 
        cyphers, and punctuation marks to read all kinds of top 
        secret mail intended for the PM and other top Belgian 
        cabinet officials.
        
        Among the documents hacked were classified reports on the 
        killing of a British soldier by the Irish Republican Army in 
        the Belgian port of Ostend last summer.
        
        Further confounding the Belgian government's investigative 
        efforts is the fact that, during his impromptu 
        "demonstration" for the newspaper, the hacker bumped into 
        ANOTHER hacker inside the same secret database and had a 
        conversation with him!
        
        The computers may be in Belgium, but apparently their 
        security has as many holes as a wedge of Swiss cheese.
        
        
        
        COMPUTER "TYPHOID DONNY" GETS STIFF SENTENCE
        
        In a landmark legal case in Fort Worth, Texas, Donald Gene 
        Burleson, 40, has been convicted on the unique charge of 
        "Harmful Access To A Computer" for planting a computer 
        "virus" program in the computer of the insurance company 
        that fired him. 
        
        Burleson was sentenced to seven years probation and ordered 
        by the judge to pay $11,800 in restitution to USPA, his 
        former employer.
        
        The 3-year-old Texas Computer Sabotage Law is the first in 
        the nation to deal with this modern problem. Prosecutor 
        Davis McCown had spent almost the full three years of the 
        law's existence trying to get a conviction. His task was 
        made difficult by the fact that most computer "virus" 
        programs erase all evidence of their makers' identity while 
        doing their destructive work of tampering with important 
        information. 
        
        Convicted virus-spreader Burleson's revenge program 
        destroyed 168,000 payroll records, and is one of over 
        250,000 such cases documented by the Computer Virus Industry 
        Association of Santa Clara, California. The association is 
        working to inform businesses of their vulnerability to such 
        sabotage and to encourage other states to follow the lead of 
        the Texas law, which carries a maximum penalty of a $5,000 
        fine and 10 years in prison.
        
        
        
        PC BILL-PAYING TAKES GIANT LEAP
        
        In a recent issue of PC LIFE, we surveyed various bank 
        services that were accessible via your pc and a modem. Now, 
        in a move intended to give new convenience to those whose 
        banks haven't caught up with the pc revolution, Checkfree 
        Systems of Columbus, Ohio is offering a $20 software program 
        that will allow you to pay all your bills online whether 
        your bank has such a service or not.
        
        For a $9 monthly fee, Checkfree's program and computer will 
        not only give you an automated checking account, it provides 
        all kinds of customizeable home-budget record-keeping 
        functions. You merely specify the merchant, the payment 
        amount, and the date on which it should be sent and 
        Checkfree's computer does the rest, adjusting the balance in 
        your account accordingly. The system can even be programmed 
        to pay regular bills such as car and house payments 
        automatically at the same time every month.
        
        How does it work? By using existing computer links in a new 
        and consumer-oriented way. Checkfree's service automatically 
        deducts the funds from your bank and deposits them in the 
        creditor's via the Federal Reserve System's automatic 
        clearinghouse network, formerly accessible only by banks and 
        large financial firms. The new system promises to be 
        convenient, fast, and easy...and it will even save you money 
        on postage stamps!
        
        
        These LifeFiles were contributed by Dan Fendel, a writer, 
        director, and computer enthusiast in Los Angeles.