February 12, 2002 Former National Archives employee sold artifacts on eBay. A curator entrusted with the care of a trove of historic treasures stole hundreds of documents and photographs -- some dating back centuries -- and sold them at auction on eBay, federal authorities said yesterday. Shawn Aubitz, a former archivist and curator for the National Archives' Philadelphia vaults, was charged yesterday with allegedly selling items that included presidential pardons signed by Abraham Lincoln and a collection of photographs taken in space by U.S. astronauts. Authorities said the items were worth about $100,000. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/2651974.htm - - - - - - - - Football club searched in Internet betting probe Italian champions AS Roma's headquarters have been searched as part of an investigation into the promotion of Internet betting Tax police have searched the headquarters of the Italian champions AS Roma as part of a probe into the promotion of Internet betting on sport, a police spokesman has said. Advertising for UK-based Eurobet, one of the online betting companies under scrutiny from Italian authorities, was on display at Roma's match with Juventus on Sunday and that has led to the club being dragged into the probe. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2104189,00.html - - - - - - - - Ten arrested in PC VAT swoop UK Customs and Excise officials have arrested 10 people allegedly involved in a major VAT fraud involving computer components. The seven men and three women were apprehended during a series of raids in the Midlands, and northern and south east England. The suspects are alleged to have been involved in the moving of computer components between the UK and Ireland, charging VAT on the sale of components to customers and then closing the company without paying the tax, a scam known as missing trader fraud. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1129192 - - - - - - - - Spam crackdown: FTC settles charges Federal regulators kicked off a crackdown on the junk e-mail known as "spam" on Tuesday with an announcement that they had settled charges against seven people accused of running an e-mail chain letter that promised quick money. The Federal Trade Commission said that the seven defendants had participated in a scam that promised returns of up to $46,000 for a $5 payment. Such chain letters are illegal in the United States. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-835462.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/2655685.htm http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17940-1.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174434.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/705414.asp http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/02/12/tech.spam.reut/index.html http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50373,00.html http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16304.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/02/12/ftc-spam.htm Privacy, Spam, Broadband Top Sen. Burns' Agenda http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174440.html - - - - - - - - Gambling software firm takes $1.3m charge for security breach Cryptologic, the gambling software firm, is taking a $1.3m charge for a fraud on its system perpetrated by hackers. Upon breaking into CryptoLogic's servers, hackers reprogrammed slot machines and a craps table at two Web-based casinos which use the firm's software so that illicit players won every time they played, Canada's National Post reports. It reports 140 gamblers amassed $1.9 million in the scam before CryptoLogic detected the scam and pulled the plug. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/24032.html - - - - - - - - Employee data exposed on Web A disgruntled former IT employee at telecommunications firm Global Crossing Holdings Ltd. has been posting the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of company employees on his Web site. The postings have appeared periodically over the past five months. They include data on all employees on Global Crossing's payroll as of September 1, according to an internal memo. The company currently has about 8,000 employees. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/02/12/global.crossing.info.idg/index.html - - - - - - - - Samsung deactivates stolen mobiles Samsung has deactivated some 26,000 mobile phones stolen from a Middlesex freight forwarding warehouse on Sunday evening. Originally worth around PS4.2m, the high spec A300 handsets are silver with Orange or One2One logos, but cannot now be used in the UK. "They are now worthless," said Detective Inspector Morgan O'Grady. The Home Office last month called on mobile phone companies to do more to block the use of stolen phones, but the operators said that, even if calls were blocked, stolen handsets could still be used overseas. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1129169 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/24037.html - - - - - - - - Government-funded group warns of major computer vulnerability Much of the Internet's network devices -- from desktop computers to traffic management systems -- have a security flaw that could allow hackers to shut them down or gain control of the devices, a government- funded research group warned Tuesday. The problem is most serious for Internet service providers, which use systems called routers to manage the flow of messages across computer networks and the Internet, the group said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/2656261.htm Bugs put Net traffic at risk Software flaws in a fundamental language of the Internet could leave the Net's basic infrastructure in danger of disruption if the holes are left unpatched, an Internet security watchdog warned on Tuesday. As previously reported, routers, PCs and other devices could be shut down or cut off from the Internet in some cases, said Martin Lindner, team leader for incident handling at the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordination Center. CERT is a major clearinghouse for security-related information on the Internet, located at Carnegie Mellon University. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-835797.html http://www.securityfocus.com/news/328 http://www.techtv.com/news/security/story/0,24195,3372031,00.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-835602.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-835469.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174447.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/705516.asp http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50379,00.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/249685p-2354258c.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/24040.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft plugs six browser holes As part of its ongoing focus on security, the software giant releases a collection of software fixes for IE - but experts say there will always be another hole to exploit Microsoft released a collection of software fixes on Monday to plug six security problems in its Internet Explorer browser, including one that could be exploited to take over a victim's computer. The advisory deemed as critical a vulnerability in the way Microsoft's browser opens external documents, but about which the software giant would say little for the past two months. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2104185,00.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174427.html http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,50374,00.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1129179 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16297.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/02/12/microsoft-ie-fix.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/249440p-2352951c.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24027.html - - - - - - - - U.S. Computer Systems Vulnerable to Cyber Attack Cyber terrorism goes beyond typical computer hacking or cracking, as some techies call the more malicious activities meant to do damage or carry out crime. In 1998, an unknown perpetrator broke into the computer systems of the U.S. Department of Defense. Iraq, which at the time was resisting U.S. weapons inspections, initially became suspect. One cyber trail led the FBI to the United Arab Emirates to no avail. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16288.html - - - - - - - - Cybercrime Bill Ups the Ante Some forms of illegal hacking would be punished by life imprisonment under a proposal that Congress will debate on Tuesday. A House Judiciary subcommittee will consider the Cyber Security Enhancement Act (CSEA), which ups the penalties for computer intrusions, funds surveillance research and encourages Internet providers to turn over more information to police. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50363,00.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/02/12/cybercrime.htm - - - - - - - - Sen. Biden Wants More Piracy Law Enforcement The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today said that existing anti-piracy laws are strong enough but need to be enforced more vigorously in the U.S. and abroad. "Copyrights and trademarks mean nothing if government authorities fail to enforce the protections they provide intellectual property owners," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said in prepared remarks to kick off a committee hearing on intellectual property protection. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174445.html - - - - - - - - Goodlatte Bill To Exempt ISPs From Criminal Liabilities Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced legislation today that would clarify that Internet service providers are not liable under federal criminal law for the actions of third-party users. The "Online Liability Standardization Act of 2002" would establish a uniform standard for criminal liability against ISPs. The bill would not limit liability for individuals and would only apply to illegal content such as child pornography - provided by third parties. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174444.html - - - - - - - - Bill Would Limit Telecom Providers Sharing Of Customer Data Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., introduced legislation on Monday that would require telecommunications providers to obtain written consent from customers prior to sharing their personal information with other providers or companies. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174437.html - - - - - - - - Web sites seen as terrorist aids A major financial institution this week will receive a report outlining the extent to which its Web site exposes it to potential attacks by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization and other terrorists. The audit, produced by security consulting firm Stroz Associates LLC, is one of the first of its kind in the private sector. It marks a growing trend by companies in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks to assess whether content on their Web sites increases their risk of being targeted by terrorist organizations. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/02/12/sensitive.information.idg/index.html - - - - - - - - Porn Hunters Unwelcome in Canada? Canadian crusaders who hunt down kiddie porn on the Internet are rankled by a pending crime bill that would criminalize their activities. The proposed legislation would update the country's criminal code to make it illegal not only to produce, possess and transmit lewd images of minors, but also merely to seek out websites that publish such material. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50325,00.html - - - - - - - - SafeWeb's Holes Contradict Claims SafeWeb's anonymous-surfing technology turns out not to be very safe after all. A pair of researchers has unearthed flaws in the CIA-funded product that contradict the company's claims of "complete privacy" and reveal the supposedly confidential information of customers. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50371,00.html - - - - - - - - CIA, FBI developing intelligence supercomputer After months of criticism that they do not work well together, the CIA and FBI have begun jointly developing a new supercomputer system designed to improve their ability to both cull and share information, White House and other U.S. officials told Global Security Newswire yesterday. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0202/021202gsn1.htm - - - - - - - - Copy-protected CDs slide into stores Israeli security company Midbar said Tuesday that it has released more than 10 million copy-protected CDs in the United States and Europe, highlighting the company's ongoing endeavor to combat digital piracy. Midbar said its technology, dubbed Cactus Data Shield, prevents people from illegally reproducing music without altering the sound quality. Midbar said the announcement, which did not indicate a time frame for the releases, includes CDs protected with its latest technology, which allows discs to be played on a CD player or a PC, resolving previous playability issues. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-835841.html - - - - - - - - Nix State-Led National ID Plan, Coalition Urges Bush A broad coalition of more than three-dozen civil liberties, consumer and privacy rights groups urged President George W. Bush on Monday to oppose a state led plan to establish a national identification system. The groups assailed a plan by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators that would allow local and federal authorities to share information on identity card applicants and to equip ID cards with technology that ties them to their owners unique physical characteristics or preferences. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174423.html - - - - - - - - Targeted Hacks - Hard To Uncover, Harder To Fight Targeted attacks do not make nearly as much 'noise' as the mass-mailing worms and widespread vulnerabilities of the Internet, but they can be much more dangerous. The number and variety of computer worms, security vulnerabilities and attacks on the Internet continue to grow, often leaving more dangerous, targeted hack attacks that go beyond random worm infections and hacker scans overlooked, according to some experts. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16258.html - - - - - - - - ISPs 'passing the buck' on security Companies would be better advised to outsource security to experts rather than manage it in house, but experts insist that internet service providers (ISPs) should be more responsive to security needs. Speaking at the ISPCON event in London today, Richard Ayres, business development manager at antivirus expert Trend Microsystems, said that outsourcing gave security vendors the opportunity to stop viruses at source, but that ISPs were guilty of passing the buck. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1129189 - - - - - - - - Can MS juggle privacy and security? Buffeted by criticism of the way it handles privacy and security matters, Microsoft is trying to batten down the hatches on both fronts in simultaneous efforts. The company is spending February auditing its software for security flaws and putting more than 8,500 developers through training in secure programming. At the same time, it is focusing just as seriously on the closely related issue of data privacy, an area in which analysts and watchdog groups give it mixed grades. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-835802.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-835605.html - - - - - - - - Vandal monitor stopped in his tracks The Alldas.de Web site, which archives copies of Web pages that have been digitally defaced by online hoodlums, announced Monday that the founder of the site would be retiring and the site moving to a new domain. In an interview with CNET News.com, founder Stefan Wagner said that dealing with system administrators who blamed Alldas.de for their defaced sites and denial-of-service attacks launched by the petty online criminals made the labor of love quickly lose its blush. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-835029.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.