Living-Today: Issues of modern living

HACKED

Most government agencies and large corporations that have had their computer security breached do not report it to law-enforcement agencies.

That's according to a survey, "2001 Computer Crime and Security Survey," conducted jointly by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI's Computer Intrusion Squad.

Eighty-five percent of the 538 respondents said they had detected computer security breaches in the past year, but only 36 percent of them reported these to law enforcement. The survey, now in its sixth year, pointed out, however, that this figure was significantly higher than 25 percent of reported cases in 2000.

Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said breaches had caused financial losses. Thirty-five percent (186) of the total respondents reported $377,828,700 in losses. Last year's figures were $265,589,940 from 249 respondents.

Theft of proprietary information (34 respondents reported $151,230,100) and financial fraud (21 respondents reported $92,935,500) caused most of the damage. Seventy percent said the Internet was a frequent point of attack. Last year's figures were 59 percent.

Bruce J. Gebhardt, who is in charge of the FBI's Northern California office, said, the results "demonstrate the seriousness and complexity of computer crime." CSI Director Patrice Rapalus cited the need to "fund, train, staff and empower those tasked with enterprise-wide information security."

SCIENCE AND TERRORISM

Most roads along the government's science policy road map lead to the U.S. war on terrorism, presidential science adviser John Marburger told the American Chemical Society's 223rd national meeting Sunday.

Marburger emphasized the broad role of science and science policy in the public discourse and said terrorism will be a key priority for the foreseeable future. "I cannot over-emphasize how committed President Bush is to this war on terrorism," he said.

Science plays a heightened role in the war effort because "this war has a degree of complexity we have not seen in previous wars," Marburger explained. "I see terrorism as a complex threat that will be with us for a very long time."

Science and scientists must approach the this war effort with careful steps, unlike the Manhattan Project's all-out effort to build nuclear capability with the blunt force of atomic bombs exploding in American deserts. "While I've heard such an approach seriously discussed, using a Manhattan-style project ... would be misguided" in the war on terror, Marburger said. "The state of science today is very different than it was during prior wars, like World War II. Making systems and society less vulnerable to terrorism will have to be a great partnership between both the public and private sector."

Government implementation of homeland security remains complicated, Marburger said. His Office of Science and Technology Policy is not completely organized with respect to the war on terrorism or homeland security and he expressed skepticism the situation would change anytime soon.

Science budgets, Marburger said, have increased about 2 percent from last year overall, with the National Science Foundation's budget increasing "by 3.4 percent over what it was last year." Additional funding increases are essential "if we want to sustain the broad interests of society," he said. "We have to fund the machinery of science in a rational way."

(Thanks to Mike Martin, UPI Science News)

CANCER AND VEGGIES

Mom was right -- eating your veggies is good for you, especially if you're a smoker.

Scientists say smokers who eat at least two servings of cruciferous vegetables a week have lower levels of tobacco-related toxins in their urine. The vegetables -- which include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and dark greens such as turnip and collard greens -- appear to change the way smokers metabolize tobacco smoke, said Dr. Gina Day Stephenson of the American Health Foundation, Valhalla, N.Y.

Stephenson said other researchers have reported increased cruciferous vegetable intake was associated with a lower rate of smoking-related cancers. "But this study suggests that just normal dietary levels can reduce the levels of tobacco-related toxins," she told UPI.

Stephenson presented her results Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in San Francisco. She said a typical serving is "about the size of a fist." Some studies have suggested smokers "are less likely to eat fruits and vegetables," implying a typical smoker might not eat two servings a week.

Andrew Burdick, an epidemiologist from the University of New Mexico, told UPI there are several studies that suggest the intake of "fruits and vegetables can reduce the risks associated with environmental carcinogens, including secondhand smoke." He added, however, "this doesn't mean that smokers should be advised to just eat healthy. The best way to lower risk is to stop smoking."

COLON CANCER

Baby aspirin may prevent many cases of colorectal cancer. That's according to researchers, who said their study of 1,100 patients in their 50s and 60s found those taking 80 milligrams of aspirin per day reduced their risk of recurrent polyps, or adenomas -- precursors to malignant cancer -- by 19 percent. Patients taking 325 mg of aspirin had a 4 percent risk reduction.

The data appeared to be more striking, however, in the prevention of more aggressive adenomas -- called tubulovillus or villous. In those, baby aspirin reduced risk by 40 percent compared to just 19 percent for the higher dose. The study was the first clinical trial that looked at the preventive effects of aspirin in the development of tumors in the large bowel.

Meanwhile, a beer a day appears to protect against colon cancer -- at least in laboratory rats.

"We found that it is the ingredients in beer, not the alcohol content, that offers protection against colon cancer," said Hajime Nozawa, a researcher with the Kirin Brewery Co. in Yokohama, Japan.

Researchers fed rats a diet that contained either water, hops, malt or beer -- Kirin pilsner -- and also gave the animals azoxymethane, a potent inducer of colon cancer. Nearly 90 percent of the 22 rats given a water diet developed tumors compared with about 60 percent of the 22 rats that had beer or beer products in their diet, Nozawa said.

Another 13 rats were fed salt water as controls and none of them developed cancer; they were not given the cancer-causing agent.

Nozawa told UPI the animals that drank the beer appeared to like it "at least as much as the water."

Both studies were presented at the annual conference of the American Association for Cancer Research in San Francisco.