January 7, 2002 Missing teen found in Va. FBI believes she met 38-year-old on the Internet. A 13-year-old girl was reunited with her parents yesterday after a tip from a man who recognized her in an Internet photo led police to a Northern Virginia home where she was found restrained. The Florida man who saw a Web camera photo of the girl recognized her from a photograph on a newspaper's Web site. FBI agents believe she met her abductor on the Internet. Scott Tyree, 38, of Herndon, Va., was arrested Friday, FBI Agent Jack Shea said in Pittsburgh. http://www.timesdispatch.com/vametro/MGBOXVF74WC.html - - - - - - - - Molester met girl, 11, online, police say A 19-year-old South Pymatuning Township man faces a trio of charges for allegedly having sexual contact with an 11-year-old girl he met in a local Internet chat room, Hermitage police said. Police said Aaron John Flowers, 6161 Seneca Road, knew the girl was a minor when he corresponded with her online. Flowers arranged a meeting with the girl in August and allegedly had sexual contact with her in a car in an East State Street parking lot, police said. http://www.sharon-herald.com/localnews/recentnews/0112/ln121901c.html - - - - - - - - Plea accord expected in hacking case A Minnesota man accused of cracking into and deliberately damaging computers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is expected to agree today to a plea deal. Lawyers told U.S District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen on Friday that Benjamin Troy Breuninger of Bloomington was ready to plead guilty or no contest to gaining unauthorized access to a protected computer. Federal prosecutor Ismail Ramsey said a little more time was needed to look over the deal. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/035886.htm - - - - - - - - Teen made $1 million in Internet investment scheme U.S. financial regulators said Monday they had uncovered a fraudulent $1 million Internet securities scheme they alleged was run by a 17-year-old high school student. Cole Bartiromo defrauded 1,000 investors through a Web site and Internet bulletin board that promised guaranteed and risk-free investments, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/081913.htm http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/invest/2002/01/07/online-investment-scheme.htm - - - - - - - - Federal judge allows keyboard-stroke capture A federal judge in New Jersey rejected a defense motion last week to suppress computer evidence gained in an FBI case against an accused Mafia loan shark, possibly clearing a path for the government to use secretly installed keystroke logging tools to defeat encryption. FBI agents acting with a warrant in May 1999 installed a keystroke logging device on the computer of Nicodemo S. Scarfo Jr., hoping to record a password for a file encrypted with PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) software. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/01/07/fbi.surveillance.idg/index.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft piracy thrives in Asia Microsoft announced Monday that law enforcement authorities had seized more than 45,000 copies of counterfeit software in the Asia-Pacific region last month. Items seized during raids on software dealers in Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India included pirated versions of the software giant's newly launched Windows XP operating system, its Office XP package and its Windows NT Server. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/newsbursts/0,7407,5101312,00.html - - - - - - - - Courts frown on online bad-mouthing Employers are winning key legal victories against former workers who criticize them online. Rulings in the waning days of 2001 could have a chilling effect on workers' use of cyberspace for years to come, civil libertarians say. The battle over Internet free speech also is heating up as more firms crack down on grousing by laid-off staff. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/01/07/online-bad-mouthing.htm - - - - - - - - Virus Top 20 for December and 2001 Infections of the Badtrans.B virus escalated in December, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of all reported virus incidents. In November, Badtrans only accounted for 50 per cent of infections. However, outbreaks of SirCam, Nimda and Magistr are on the decrease. Badtrans was also jockeying with SirCam for the most destructive virus of 2001 position. It was also the main suspect on the most virus active days of last year. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127997 - - - - - - - - Virus Writers Here to 'Help' Although it may seem trite to fret about computer virus attacks when compared with larger global security concerns, a seemingly endless onslaught of virtual vermin plagued computer users in 2001. "In 1999, we were catching one virus per hour," said Alex Shipp, chief technology officer at Messagelabs, a security firm. "In 2000, it was one every three minutes and now in 2001 it is one every 30 seconds, and rising." Other antiviral companies have reported similar statistics. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,49483,00.html - - - - - - - - Report: Cyberspace ripe for terrorist attacks An obscure report issued Dec. 21 by the Canadian Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Services raises the specter of a possible future cyberattack by agents or sympathizers of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist organization. The Canadian threat analysis of al-Qaeda's cybercapabilities concludes that, although there have been no examples to date of cyberterrorist attacks conducted by al-Qaeda, "Bin Laden's vast financial resources, however, would enable him or his organization to purchase the equipment and expertise required for a cyberattack and mount such an attack in very short order." http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cw1.htm - - - - - - - - Sex gateway: Perverts target children on Net ONE in five Australian children who use the Internet are solicited for sex, according to anti-paedophile group Child Wise Australia. And it says WA remains a gateway for organised Asian sex tours and Australians are sex tourists in 20 countries. Child Wise Australia is part of a worldwide network trying to eliminate child sex tours, child prostitution, child pornography and the sale of children for sex. It claimed in a recent report that there had been dramatic growth in the child sex trade. Thousands of Australians were becoming sex tourists. http://www.thewest.com.au/20011231/news/state/tw-news-state-home-sto38324.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft Breaks Netscape Rule In New Security Flaw The failure of Microsoft to abide by a well-known browser security rule has resulted in a "severe" flaw in the company's Internet Explorer browser, according to security experts. The security bug, which affects all current versions of Internet Explorer for Windows, including IE 5.5 and IE 6, provides attackers with a grab-bag of techniques for stealing other users' browser cookies, reading some files on their hard disks, and "spoofing" the content of legitimate sites, according to ThePull, an independent security researcher who discovered the vulnerability. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173439.html - - - - - - - - No fix in sight for software fixes Windows XP saga illustrates how confusing patches are. Its Dec. 20, and Microsoft Corp. issues an all-points bulletin to every Windows XP user. Your computer is vulnerable to hackers, it says but if you download a free patch, youll be safe. The next day, the FBI contradicts the Redmond giant, saying even the patch wont make you safe. In the following days, a leading privacy expert complains that users of other Microsoft Windows versions need to worry, too. Finally, last week, the FBI backed off, saying Microsofts patch was fine all along. Whats a confused, concerned consumer to do? http://www.msnbc.com/news/682227.asp - - - - - - - - Congress aims for 'first responder'aid When Congress reconvenes, it will face a mountain of proposed homeland security laws that focus on helping what many are calling the first line of defense the fire, police and emergency rescue agencies in cities and counties. Because most of the measures are aimed at state and local governments that have clearly demonstrated a need to beef up "first responder" agencies, Congress is right to take action, many observers say. Deciding which of these measures to enact, and just how to fund them, however, will be the hard part. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0107/pol-aid-01-07-02.asp DOD bills bolster anti-terrorism spending http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0107/news-dod-01-07-02.asp - - - - - - - - Lawmaker promises changes to Online Copyright law A U.S. congressman said on Monday he intended to change a controversial copyright law to allow consumers to override technologies that prevent them from making digital copies of music, movies, and software. Virginia Democratic Rep. Rick Boucher said he planned to introduce a bill that would eliminate the ``anti-circumvention'' clause of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a 1998 law that updated Copyright laws for the digital era. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1724684l.htm Lawmaker Questions CD-Copying Protections http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173429.html Napster head calls on Congress for help http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1724977l.htm - - - - - - - - DOJ's Antitrust Division Heading For Digital Tune-Up The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday it will "modernize" its Antitrust Division to better handle new enforcement trends in the information technology and telecommunications sectors. The Justice Department plans to make largely structural changes to the Antitrust Division by renaming certain sections and converting stand-alone task forces into permanent departments. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173430.html - - - - - - - - Rumsfeld names CEO to be spectrum protector Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld deems an area of radio frequency bands used by the Defense Department as so crucial that he has hired a telecommunications industry executive to focus on protecting that electromagnetic spectrum. Rumsfeld has named Steven Price, former president and chief executive officer of LiveWire, as a deputy assistant secretary of Defense for spectrum and command, control and communications policy. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17728-1.html - - - - - - - - U.S. considers encoding data on driver's licenses The government is taking its first steps with the states to develop driver's licenses that can electronically store information such as fingerprints for the 184 million Americans who carry the cards. Privacy experts fear the effort may lead to de facto national identification cards that would allow authorities to track citizens electronically, circumventing the intense debate over federal ID cards. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/01/07/drivers-licenses.htm - - - - - - - - Zaplet to license software to CIA arm Redwood City's Zaplet, the closely watched software start-up that is trying to transform e-mail into a collaborative application, has joined forces with the Central Intelligence Agency. Under the accord, to be announced today, Zaplet has licensed its enterprise software to the CIA's venture arm, In-Q-Tel, for use in pilot programs at the agency. http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/business/docs/zaplet07.htm - - - - - - - - Are you encouraging hackers to attack your network? Don't ask, don't tell I learned about this policy change a month ago. I was reporting on a new security software release and needed to verify that a government agency was, in fact, using the product. The vendor was anxious to get this information to me, but its public relations department ran into stone walls at every agency using the software. http://www.techrepublic.com/article_guest.jhtml?id=r00220000105eje02.htm - - - - - - - - Spyware: Is using it illegal or just sleazy? "Will I go to jail?" That's not normally a question a technology columnist needs to answer, but when we are talking about spying on people, it becomes germane. Since I'm not a lawyer, I am unable to give specific advice--but I can offer some generalities. The question we're considering is: "Will I go to jail if I put a keystroke logger on someone else's computer?" In case you're joining us late, you can get up to speed by reading my last two columns, Part One and Part Two, which describe the technology that allows you to capture every keystroke on a victim/user's computer. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2836365,00.html *********************************************************** 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.