Law enforcement agencies and security experts agree that breaches in bank security are rising, but the number of serious incidents--and the risk to the public--remains largely unknown. The banking industry, manically protective of its reputation, releases as little information as possible about break-ins, for good reason: Consumers are more sensitive than ever about security, having been exposed to financial disasters ranging from the S&L scandal to the Enron debacle.

Privacy and consumer advocates say security will likely be compromised even further as financial institutions partner with companies such as Microsoft and AOL Time Warner for Web services, which will rely on relatively untested technologies.

Zone Labs, Internet security products,.

Keep hackers and data thieves out of your computer with ZoneAlarm Pro, the award-winning PC firewall that protects against Internet-borne threats like worms, Trojan horses, and spyware. New ZoneAlarm Pro doubles your protection with Ad Blocking and Cookie Control to speed up your Internet experience and stop Web site spying. Why take chances? Get protected.

ZoneAlarm® Pro 3.0 is for Windows only so I can't test it and comment. But they have a new version that adds Cookie Control and Ad Blocking. They also have a Lite version that is free for individuals and non-profits.

Reason Magazine Online - Hollywood vs. the Internet. Why entertainment companies want to hack your computer.

Maybe you loved Napster or maybe you hated it, but the right to start a Napster, or to infringe copyright and get away with it, is not what's at issue here. At some date in the near future, perhaps as early as 2010, people may no longer be able to do the kinds of things they routinely do with their digital tools today. They may no longer be able, for example, to move music or video files easily from one of their computers to another, even if the other is a few feet away in the same house. Their music collections, reduced to MP3s, may be movable to a limited extent, unless their hardware doesn't allow it. The digital videos they shot in 1999 may be unplayable on their desktop and laptop computers.

Programmers trying to come up with, say, the next great version of the Linux operating system may find their development efforts put them at risk of civil and criminal penalties. Indeed, their sons and daughters in grade school computer classes may face similar risks if the broadest of the changes now being proposed -- a ban on software, hardware, and any other digital-transmission technology that does not incorporate copyright protection -- becomes law.

Whether this scenario comes to pass depends mainly on the outcome of an emerging struggle between the content industries and the information technology industries. The Content Faction includes copyright holders such as movie and TV studios, record companies, and book publishers. The Tech Faction includes computer makers, software companies, and manufacturers of related devices such as CD burners, MP3 players, and Internet routers. In this war over the future shape of digital technology, it's computer users who may suffer the collateral damage.

Slashdot | Reason Magazine on DRM.