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The offices of a Dallas law firm representing a high-profile State Department whistleblower were broken into last weekend. Burglars stole three computers and broke into the firm's file cabinets. But silver bars, video equipment and other valuables were left untouched, according to local Fox affiliate KDFW, which aired security camera footage of the suspected burglars entering and leaving the offices around the time of the incident. The firm Schulman & Mathias represents Aurelia Fedenisn, a former investigator at the State Department's Office of the Inspector General. In recent weeks, she raised a slew of explosive allegations against the department and...

A Russian software company today released a password cracking tool that instantly reveals cached passwords to Web sites in Microsoft Internet Explorer, mailbox and identity passwords in all versions of Microsoft Outlook Express, Outlook, Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail. Moscow based ElcomSoft, developer of the new password recovery tool, “Elcomsoft Internet Password Breaker,” says the product designed as tool to provide forensics, criminal investigators, security officers and government authorities with the ability to retrieve a variety of passwords stored on a PC. With a price tag of just $49, it doesn’t seem as though investigators and government authorities are...

PROVO -- A former Brigham Young University employee pleaded guilty Thursday to theft charges for stealing computers and selling them online. Allen Scott Harris, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and two counts of communications fraud, both second-degree felonies. An additional six felonies were dismissed as part of a plea deal. He faces a sentence of one to 15 years in prison for each charge when he is sentenced March 11. Judge James Taylor advised Harris of his rights and reminded him that he has the discretion on Harris's sentence and could choose to run the sentences on...

WASHINGTON — A portable drive with personal information on more than 207,750 Marines was lost earlier this month, possibly jeopardizing those troops’ credit records and privacy. In a message sent out to Marines, officials said the information was encoded and so far they’ve seen no evidence the information is being abused. But, because the data could be used for criminal purposes, they are asking all Marines to be on guard for signs of identity theft. According to officials from the Manpower Information Technology Branch, the portable drive was part of a Naval Postgraduate School research project. The information was being...