This is freaking interesting. In case you haven’t heard about the encrypted letter that Fermilab was sent and asked for help breaking, here is some more information:

http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/breaking/2008/05/15/code-crackers-wanted/ 

http://www.jgc.org/blog/2008/05/breaking-fermilab-code.html

http://www.gmilburn.ca/2008/05/17/fermilabs-strange-letter-progress/ 

Also, a report of spiking scans for SSH brute force logins using common username and passwords:
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11518

You can always run SSH over a different port than 22 if the firewall is configured for that. How about 2222? Make sure root is not allowed, and the username/password isn’t easy to brute force (30 character passwords with upper/lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters).
Of course, none of this matters if you have a rootkit keystroke logging on your computer (see previous article).

Have a nice day!

That shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone, but for those who still doubt and put their faith in AV for protection, read this article:

http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=153760&WT.svl=news1_2

Thought this was a pretty nice graphic from CSO Magazine (of all places) showing different botnets and how they map to the IPs and domains that serve as command and control:

http://www.csoonline.com/article/348317/What_a_Botnet_Looks_Like