Weekly World News Closes

Sad news from the supermarket checkout line this morning: after 28 years, Weekly World News is closing its print edition and going web-only. While the spirited tabloid is best known for its groundbreaking Bat Boy coverage, WWN also deserves credit for reporting Cybarmageddon! stories long before its mainstream competitors.

Consider this article from 2000, Hackers Can Turn Your Home Computer Into a Bomb, which warned (as so many have since) that DDoS attacks are just the beginning.

Experts say the recent "break-ins" that paralyzed the Amazon.com, Buy.com and eBAY websites are tame compared to what will happen in the near future.

Computer expert Arnold Yabenson, president of the Washington-based consumer group National CyberCrime Prevention Foundation (NCPF), says that as far as computer crime is concerned, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg.

"The criminals who knocked out those three major online businesses are the least of our worries," Yabenson told Weekly World News. (...)

"It is already possible for an assassin the send someone an e-mail with an innocent-looking attachment connected to it. When the receiver downloads the attachment, the electrical current and molecular structure of the central processing unit is altered, causing it to blast apart like a large hand grenade. (…)

Yabenson points out that these dangerous sociopaths have already:

• Vandalized FBI and U.S. Army websites.
• Broken into Chinese military networks.
• Come within two digits of cracking an 87-digit Russian security code that would have sent deadly missiles hurtling toward five of American's major cities.

Other WWN scoops included Computer Virus Spreads To Humans! and Computer Charged with Murder After Frying Chess Champ. The paper will be missed.

Previously:

Massive Wave of Estonia Cybarmageddon Debunking Begins

Estonia Drops Cyberwar Theory, Claims Packets Were
'Terrorism'

Estonia 'Cyberwar' Wasn't

Estonia DDoS Attacks Make Tech Reporters Into Daring War Correspondents