Now the US government is spearheading a plan to protect the nation's information infrastructure and head off potential e-terrorism. What's planned? Who's involved? What's at stake? We examine the issues.

• Denial-of-Service: How big is this threat? The distributed Denial-of-Service attacks that recently hit eight major Web sites are just "the tip of the iceberg," according to FBI Director Louis Freeh. Mon, 03 Apr 2000
• Is hacking healthy? One of the biggest assets to the computer security industry is - surprise! - hackers. Mon, 03 Apr 2000
• Grey Hats, Black Hats, and Script Kiddies Most of these guys are kids who don't always think through the consequences of their actions. Mon, 03 Apr 2000
• The Security Ecology If hackers aren't necessarily out to get you, just what role do they play in computer security? Mon, 03 Apr 2000
• Are they 'hackers'? Or 'crackers'? According to the word police, there's a difference Mon, 03 Apr 2000
• How to fight cyber thugs When things got out of hand in the Wild West, they created the Texas Rangers. When England needed a centralised police agency, Scotland Yard was born. Mon, 03 Apr 2000
• An ode to cyber stings Law enforcement warns us of the dangers of the Net and how the medium is a new haven for criminals, but the anonymity of the Web cuts both ways. The cloak of electronic facelessness is the perfect tool for police to run stings and keep an eye on the bad guys. Wed, 05 Apr 2000
• Background: Internet 'Darwinism' We see hackers as criminal figures. But without them pushing the envelope, we wouldn't have the Internet as we know it today.Thu, 06 Apr 2000
• Hackers and the evolution of the Web Hackers are, in the broadest definition, people with a creative, expert knowledge of computer systems at the technical level.Thu, 06 Apr 2000
• Who is that masked man? Whilst they are considered outlaws by some, Hackers problem-solving contributes to the technical well-being of commercial ventures like ZDNet, eBay and Yahoo! Thu, 06 Apr 2000
• DoS: The story behind the story It is little understood that the Denial-of-Service attacks do not enable access to confidential data, nor do they jeopardise system integrity. They merely knock a system offline. Thu, 06 Apr 2000
• Gaugeing the fallout from DoS The high profile crack-ins of this year have had a number of positive, or at least reassuring, consequences. Thu, 06 Apr 2000
• The reverse salient Perhaps it's time we added another military metaphor to those already in circulation around the hacker - the reverse salient. Thu, 06 Apr 2000

When things got out of hand in the Wild West, they created the Texas Rangers. When England needed a centralised police agency, Scotland Yard was born. Go with Jesse Berst to AnchorDesk UK to find out how to fight cyber thugs. What do you think? Tell the Mailroom. And read what others have said.