Computers, more taken from Sedge Garden Elementary - 4 other school break-ins reported, 3 involving computer equipment

Twenty computers and monitors were stolen from Sedge Garden Elementary School last week, Winston-Salem police said yesterday.

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office also has been investigating four other recent break-ins at schools. In three of the cases, computer equipment was also stolen.

It's not clear if the cases in the county are connected to the break-in at Sedge Garden, but a sheriff's detective is comparing notes on the cases with a Winston-Salem police detective, said Capt. Brad Stanley, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.

Hacker hits MU database - Personal info stored in computer system

A hacker broke into a University of Missouri system computer server last month and might have gained access to personal information, including Social Security numbers, of 1,220 researchers on four campuses.

The passwords used for the system by more than 2,500 people might have been compromised as well. The university has sent e-mails and registered letters to everyone affected.

"We have advised them to monitor their credit accounts and to be aware of the potential for any problem," said Scott Charton, a spokesman for the system. "We have had no reports of identify theft arising from this, but we want to be ultra cautious."

Companies find new ways to build computer security

SAN FRANCISCO Computer security is often about keeping the bad guys out. On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled a series of technologies that make it easier to let the right people in.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie made the announcements at the RSA security conference here. The keynote discussion followed the conference kickoff, a Broadway-style rendition of Queen and David Bowie's song "Under Pressure," with added lyrics about "a world without malware" and dancers dressed in monk's costumes alluding to this year's theme of a Renaissance cryptographer, Leon Battista Alberti.