Reports that hackers in Russia stole information from US military computers are insufficient evidence to prove that a Kremlin-backed online spy-ring has been uncovered, according to Russia's foreign intelligence service. The FBI had said that hackers based near Moscow were responsible for "a series of widespread intrusions" into computers belonging to the US defence department, other federal agencies and private companies.
Boris Labusov, a spokesman for Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, dismissed speculation that the hackers had been officially sanctioned. "Do you think Russian special services are so stupid as to engage in such activities directly from Moscow?" he said.
Eastern Promise: Irish-owned International Financial Systems, which provides web-enabled collateralised trading and risk management software for the international financial markets, has opened an office in Singapore.
Selling Out Online: Intel's chief executive, Craig Barrett, says the company is selling $1 billion a month in chips on the Internet - almost half of its $30 billion in annual sales - and predicted that it will sell all its chips this way within a year.
Virtual Diplomacy: The US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, has held a bilateral meeting of foreign ministers on the Internet. At the headquarters of Yahoo, Albright held talks with El Salvador's Foreign Minister, Maria de Avila.
Yahoo's Boomtime: Yahoo has reported a third-quarter operating income of $40.41 million, or 14 cents a share, compared to $6.92 million, or 2 cents a share, a year ago.
New Microsoft Trial: Microsoft and BT are to offer wireless Internet service in Europe beginning with a trial involving about 1,000 mobile phone users. The trial will enable employees of five companies in Britain and Norway to use their mobile phones to access email, calendar information and content from web pages customised for the small screens.
Powering Information Management: The ESB has invested in a new management information system for its power generation business unit. The new Essbase system is based on information warehousing technology and provides a range of reporting and analysis tools.
Trinity's Multimedia Flourish: Close to 4,500 people attended the exhibition of work by the students from the TCD Msc in Multimedia Sciences, which finished on Saturday, making it one of the most popular exhibitions ever at the college's Douglas Hyde Gallery.
On Edge: A network management product launched on the Irish market by Data Edge has won a prestigious international award. Netcool/Impact, developed by Micromuse, won the network management and analysis category at the recent NetWorld/Interop '99 show in Atlanta.
Esat Ventures Forward: Esat Telecom has formed a joint venture with Racal Telecom, the British wholesale telecoms supplier, to provide a broadband ring between Dublin and London through an agreement that will use Racal's British network and Esat's national and local infrastructure.
This Email Will Self-Destruct: Disappearing, a US start-up, has developed a way to put time-bombs in email messages, so that they are readable only as long as the sender wants them to be. The system, due next year, encrypts messages with a key which has a life-span determined by the sender.
Tampering In The First Degree: A teenage hacker has admitted breaking into AOL's internal computers from his bedroom and altering programs. Jay Satiro pleaded guilty to first-degree computer tampering and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
In Brief...Scottish software house E-commerce Europe is to establish its main operation in Dublin. . . The Irish-owned Millennium Group has launched a new North American operation in response to strong advance demand for Mcom, a new Java based e-commerce solution developed by the company. . . CompuServe's online membership grew by 300,000 in the US and Canada in the last quarter. . . Macromedia has agreed to acquire Andromedia, a privately held supplier of Internet marketing software, for stock valued at around $275 million. . . The US Justice Department's antitrust trial and earlier legal actions against the Microsoft have cost $13.3 million over the past 10 years. . .