January 2, 2002 New hole in AOL Instant Messenger lets hackers take over. A security hole in AOL Time Warner's Instant Messenger program used by millions of people worldwide can let a hacker take full control of a victim's computer, according to security researchers and the company. An AOL spokesman said the problem will be fixed soon, and users won't have to download anything. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/021010.htm http://www.msnbc.com/news/680950.asp http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/01/02/aol.security/index.html http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,49442,00.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/209392p-2020627c.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23530.html AIM hole could let worms wriggle in http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101170,00.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173320.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127924 AOL scurries to fill AIM hole http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8336037.html - - - - - - - - ZaCker worm attacks safeguards A destructive new worm that destroys antivirus software on infected computers was slowly spreading Wednesday. The Maldal.D worm, also known as ZaCker, was written and distributed Dec. 29, according to antivirus software maker Symantec, prompting fears the worm could sneak past security software that wasn't updated over the holiday break. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101163,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-8334809.html http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15573.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/23519.html - - - - - - - - Man pleads innocent in child pornography case A Roanoke man pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday to six counts related to child pornography. In a recently unsealed indictment, Rodney Lewis Davis II, 24, was charged with transmitting child pornography across state lines by computer on Nov. 8, 2000. He also was charged with distributing and reproducing child pornography on Nov. 8, 2000. http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story123556.html - - - - - - - - Freed Russian software programmer returns home A Russian software programmer, freed in November after escaping prosecution under controversial U.S. copyright laws, returned home on Monday and praised the support he received from campaigners while in detention. Dmitry Sklyarov, 27, told NTV television after arriving at a Moscow airport his release had defied the long odds of trying to defeat the U.S. authorities in legal proceedings. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/001711.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101133,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8324114.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127908 - - - - - - - - Trojan horse targets file-swappers A pair of popular file-sharing programs have become privacy time bombs, according to computer experts. Antivirus company Symantec last week reported the presence of "spyware" bundled with Grokster and Limewire, two popular file-swapping downloads. The code evidently does not damage computers, but it surreptitiously sends personal information such as user ID names and the Internet address of computers to another Web address. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101168,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8335745.html - - - - - - - - WSJ: Computer holds al Qaeda files A computer taken from a building used by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in Afghanistan contains letters and memos about the organization's internal operations, justifications for attacks, and efforts to obtain chemical weapons, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. A looter said he got the desktop computer in Kabul after a U.S. bombing raid in November that killed several senior officials of al Qaeda, the Journal said. http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/12/31/inv.al.qaeda.computer.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - Amnesty Period for Software Pirates The BSA, based in Washington, D.C., estimates software publishers lose about $12 billion a year worldwide due to software piracy. Hoping to flush out businesses using illegal copies of Windows, Photoshop and other software programs, a national technology trade group will hit airwaves in the San Francisco area this week with the message: Turn yourself in now or face steep fines later. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15501.html - - - - - - - - FTC Puts Halt To Site's Cancer-Cure Claims The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered a Web site that specializes in selling herbal and non-traditional remedies to stop touting one of its products as a cure for cancer. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173327.html - - - - - - - - Gov't tells Web sites to stop peddling unproven protection. The government has warned dozens of Web site operators to stop making unproven claims about devices for bioterrorism protection including gas masks that may not work as advertised and ultraviolet lights falsely touted as anthrax killers. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/001752.htm http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0102/010202td1.htm http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15552.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/209386p-2020579c.html - - - - - - - - AOL glitch blocks Harvard's e-mails to dozens of students. Dozens of e-mail messages telling Harvard University applicants whether they had been admitted never arrived last month after America Online interpreted the messages as junk e-mail. ``This wasn't exactly the instant response we intended,'' William Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions and financial aid, told The Boston Globe. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/001421.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/209046p-2015925c.html - - - - - - - - Security exec picked for board Howard Schmidt, Microsoft Corp.'s chief information security officer, is in line to be vice chairman of the federal Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. President Bush announced Dec. 21 his intention to nominate Schmidt to the board, which Bush created to coordinate the protection of the government's and the private sector's critical cyber assets. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/1231/web-cipb-01-02-02.asp - - - - - - - - New York strengthens Internet privacy New York Gov. George E. Pataki signed into law a bill that requires state agencies to develop policies to enhance online privacy. The Internet Privacy Policy Act requires the states Office for Technology to develop a model online privacy notice for state Web sites. The legislation bars state agencies from collecting or disclosing users personal information without their consent. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17664-1.html - - - - - - - - Bush lifts speed limits on computer exports President Bush on Wednesday allowed U.S. technology firms to sell high-speed computers to Russia, China, India and countries in the Middle East, easing a Cold War-era ban designed to halt the spread of nuclear arms. Computer manufacturers may now export computers capable of complex three-dimensional modeling, calculating fluid dynamics, and other advanced applications to Pakistan, Vietnam and other so-called ``Tier 3'' countries without specific permission from the government. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1720700l.htm - - - - - - - - Another Scripting Hole In Microsoft IE Exposes Local Files Bulgarian bug hunter Georgi Guninski has discovered another bug in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser that could allow a malicious hacker to read the contents of documents on the hard drive of a Web surfer's PC. The security hole, closely related to a bug the Sofia-based security consultant uncovered in September 2000, uses simple JavaScript code and Microsoft's ActiveX controls to gain access to local files. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173315.html - - - - - - - - Many Windows XP Users Slow to Patch Security Hole Industry observers say that Microsoft has a lot to lose if universal plug-and-play, the source of the vulnerability, turns out to be a bust. Millions of consumers with new Microsoft Windows XP equipped computers remain oblivious to a gaping security hole that could trigger the next wave of computer viruses, security experts say. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15563.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/01/02/xp-security-hole.htm - - - - - - - - 'Storm Chasers' Collide In Domain-Name Dispute A speedy arbitration process to settle disputes over the ownership of Internet domain names isn't the kind of whirlwind Warren Faidley is used to. But the Tucson, Ariz., photographer known for his dramatic images of bad weather has wrested the address WarrenFaidley.com from a fellow "storm chaser" who became a cybersquatter. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173300.html - - - - - - - - Tech companies develop innovative security solutions Computer whizzes at a small Eagan firm say their cutting-edge software can identify a person within seconds of retrieving data from a finger scan. In the frenzied search for new ways to combat terrorism, BIO-key International's system has captured the imagination of federal agencies - and even a former Israeli prime minister. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/208401p-2010006c.html - - - - - - - - CIA-backed software looks for terror connections Data analysis software backed by the CIA and used by some casinos to catch gambling cheats is now being tested for its potential to detect suspected terrorists and their associates when they make airline, hotel or rental-car reservations. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cw2.htm - - - - - - - - Scientists: Liars betrayed by their faces A heat-sensing camera trained on people's faces was able to detect liars in a study that hints at a way of spotting terrorists at airports. In six of eight people who lied, the high-resolution thermal imaging camera detected a faint blushing around their eyes that Mayo Clinic researchers said is evidence of deception. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/01/02/liars.faces.ap/index.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/209357p-2020364c.html - - - - - - - - 'Win-XP hole' mis-represented by FBI, press, Gibson Everyone from the FBI to the LA Times has something scary to say about the new XP vulnerability. Here's why they all have it wrong. The creation of marketing niches from Microsoft technologies is a model of perpetual motion. Redmond develops the products, and we get paid to implement, install, configure, customize, upgrade, secure, and to even break and exploit them. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23517.html - - - - - - - - The Year Ahead: Is the Internet becoming safer for children? A ZDNet UK investigation in 2001 exposed the dangers of Internet chatrooms, but there is still no law to catch Internet paedophiles. It is more than a year since Britain sentenced its first Internet paedophile, Patrick Green, to five years imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl who he met in an Internet chatroom. The ground-breaking trial was sadly not a one-off, and the entire Internet industry received an unwelcome shake-up in 2001 when a flurry of Internet paedophile cases continued to hit UK courts. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2101792,00.html - - - - - - - - Cyber security In the real world, we worry about anthrax or smallpox. These bacteria and viruses potentially can kill millions of people and it's difficult to defend against them. In the cyberworld of computers and the Internet, there also are infectious agents that can cause great harm and that are difficult to defend against. Last year, according to a research firm in California, Computer Economics, worms and viruses cost us more than $17 billion. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/208112p-2007755c.html - - - - - - - - Toward More Cybersecurity in 2002 Here's a list of resolutions that, if put into action, would help make the Net a much safer place. Call 2001 The Year of Living Dangerously. Router attacks brought down major Microsoft sites, followed by the Code Red worm over the summer. Then came the Nimda worm-virus in the fall. A sinister-sounding program called AirSnort allowed roaming cybersnoops to hack vulnerable wireless networks using only a Linux laptop and some free software. And Visa U.S.A. launched a policy mandating merchants that accept online credit cards to take basic security steps or lose their charging privileges. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/302 - - - - - - - - Viruses in Review: How Curiosity Can Doom Users 'With the I Love You virus, there was no love; with the Anna Kournikova virus, there was no picture of Anna Kournikova,' said one expert who urged caution. Many of last year's biggest Internet threats featured new techniques that combined computer viruses with hacking, attacked via several different avenues, and contained more complex code than ever. But the biggest threat to Internet users, some experts say, continues to be their own curiosity. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15552.html - - - - - - - - How Not to Recover From Getting Hacked IT'S A FOX TELEVISION special waiting to be made: When hackers attack. There's blame and blunder, sensationalism and surprise, and a theme song whose sinister refrain reminds you that no one not you, not your competitorreally knows the best way to respond to an information security breach. http://www.cio.com/archive/010102/security.html - - - - - - - - Popular hangout for teens have recent problems with violence. Cyber cafes in this Orange County city are attracting an unruly crowd and city officials are worried about the safety of children after a murder over the weekend. Cyber cafes are one of the fastest growing businesses in Orange County, where teens and young adults frequently can be found logging onto the Internet and playing video games. Some locations stay open as late as 4 a.m. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/085372.htm *********************************************************** Search the NewsBits.net Archive at: http://www.newsbits.net/search.html *********************************************************** The source material may be copyrighted and all rights are retained by the original author/publisher. The information is provided to you for non-profit research and educational purposes. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however copies may not be sold, and NewsBits (www.newsbits.net) should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright 2000-2002, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.