April 11, 2002 Scientists stole trade secrets from 4 companies besides Lucent. The three Chinese nationals accused of stealing trade secrets from Lucent Technologies also victimized four other companies, according to a new indictment returned Thursday. The three men, including two scientists who worked at Lucent's Murray Hill headquarters, now face 24 counts, including the original conspiracy charge, 14 counts of possessing trade secrets, and nine counts of wire fraud. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3045661.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/356900p-2901291c.html - - - - - - - - Pedophile Caught in Net Swoop Starts Life Term A convicted pedophile was serving the first full day of six life sentences Saturday after police tracked him over the Web in what they said was Britain's first such Internet surveillance operation. David Randle, 40, was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to six charges of rape, four of indecent assault and several of taking and distributing "indecent images" of a young child, police in Nottingham, central England, said. http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=T5T1KV0UHRHPSCRBAE0CFFAKEEATGIWD?type=internetnews&StoryID=781646 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1914000/1914152.stm - - - - - - - - Newmedia agency mail list gets worm payload Subscribers to a mailing list sent out on behalf of 20th Century Fox received an unwelcome release yesterday when they were sent a copy of the Klez-E worm. A Linux server at new media agency Foresight, which runs the list, was successfully commandeered by vandals to run an external script that sent out the worm to subscribers on the list, according to a preliminary diagnosis of the problem by the company. Klez-E, a damaging worm which normally spreads by email, does not infect Linux boxes, so it would seem that s'kiddies have gone through a rather circuitous route in spreading the pathogen. http://www.theregus.com/content/55/24608.html - - - - - - - - Study: 10,000 people report they lost $18 million to Internet fraud Nearly 10,000 Americans reported losing $18 million in online scams last year, according to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center's annual report. The average loss for those scammed was $435. Almost half of the 16,775 fraud cases investigated by the center were people complaining they were duped in online auctions. Other scams included non-delivery of promised merchandise and credit card fraud. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3037673.htm http://www.msnbc.com/news/737233.asp http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/04/11/online.fraud.ap/index.html http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,51725,00.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/355858p-2897258c.html - - - - - - - - Net creates new breed of paedophile Adults often do not know what their children are doing online. A stark warning about the dangers lurking on the web has been issued by UK child abuse experts as police involved in the search for missing teenager Amanda Dowling turn to the family's computer for clues. It is believed that the schoolgirl was a regular user of internet chatrooms and police have not ruled out the possibility that her disappearance is linked to someone she met on the net. In the last two years, at least 12 children have been attacked by someone they initially met in an internet chatroom. All their attackers are now serving prison sentences. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1909000/1909548.stm - - - - - - - - UK business unprepared for virus attacks IT managers are neglecting network security, at the risk of serious damage when the next big virus outbreak occurs, finds a new study. Many British firms are neglecting the security of their computer systems and are likely to be crippled by the next major virus attack, according to new research. Security firm McAfee has warned that, by not adequately protecting themselves, companies are running the risk of network failure and expensive downtime when the next big virus strikes. So far this year there has not been a really major virus attack, and McAfee believes this is why many companies aren't giving sufficient attention to security management. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2108202,00.html - - - - - - - - Deleted voice mail messages may not really be gone Most people think that their voice mail is private and that when they delete it, it's gone. But as Hewlett-Packard Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman learned this week, that's not always the case -- for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the answer is simple human error: Someone forwards the message, or a worker uses a voice mail password that anyone can guess. Some companies' voice mail systems may also be vulnerable to hackers. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3039551.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/353806p-2887500c.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3044630.htm - - - - - - - - Monitoring reduces security risks Counterpane today released statistics to back its claim that customers of its monitoring services are far less likely to have their networks penetrated. In the first quarter of 2002, Counterpane monitored approx. 200 networks worldwide and processed 31 billion network events. The company's analysts investigated 57,000 separate security incidents, of which 55 per cent turned out to be false positives, 27 per cent were authorised customer activity, and 18 per cent were actual attacks. The attacks consisted of unauthorised scans, denial of service attacks, probes, attacks on a third party or attempts to otherwise compromise a network. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/24806.html - - - - - - - - Europe elbows Internet content 'blocking' The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to oppose the use of "blocking" as a way of regulating content on the Internet. The vote (460 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstentions) this morning means that ISPs will not be forced to restrict access to Web sites. Instead, they have been given the green light to continue with self-regulation. Today's decision has been welcomed by Louisa Gosling, President of the European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroISPA), as a "forward looking and informed decision". http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/24808.html - - - - - - - - Give your password to complete strangers? No problem... When it comes to password security UK office workers are extremely lax, according to an un-scientific survey of commuters at a busy London train station. Two thirds of those quizzed were seemed perfectly happy to hand over their company passwords to complete strangers - which must make those in charge of IT security shudder in disbelief. The survey, which comes ahead of a security conference, also found that the most commonly used password is the word "password". http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/24812.html - - - - - - - - Seeking Profits, Internet Companies Alter Privacy Policy Pressed for profits, Internet companies are increasingly selling access to their users' postal mail addresses and telephone numbers, in addition to flooding their e-mail boxes with junk mail. Yahoo (news/quote), the vast Internet portal, just changed its privacy policy to make it clear that it has the right to send mail and make sales calls to tens of millions of its registered users. And it has given itself permission to send users e-mail marketing messages on behalf of its own growing family of services, even if those users had previously asked not to receive any marketing from Yahoo. Users have 60 days to go to a page on Yahoo's Web site where they can record a choice not to receive telephone, postal or e-mail messages in various categories. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/11/technology/ebusiness/11PRIV.html - - - - - - - - Critics Carp About CARP Webcast Royalty Plan - Update A lot of people out there are carping about CARP. The Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP), a body appointed by the U.S. Copyright Office, has proposed a royalty payment plan for Webcasters that has aroused staunch opposition, judging by a sampling of the criticism collected by Monday's public commentary deadline. A plan on the table would require Internet-only Webcasters to pay $.0014 per song streamed. Terrestrial radio stations simulcasting their signals over the Internet would pay half that amount, or $.0007 per stream, a reduction related to royalties they already pay for standard broadcasts. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175826.html - - - - - - - - RIAA Asks Congress For More Piracy Protection The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) this week urged a powerful House panel to focus more intently on combating digital music piracy. "Digital music piracy is the most serious problem affecting digital music and the music industry; and it has implications with regard to most of the other issues and proposals being considered," RIAA President Hillary Rosen wrote in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175794.html KaZaa chaos doesnt stop the music http://www.msnbc.com/news/736467.asp Are Ads a Gateway to Illegal CDs? http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,51719,00.html - - - - - - - - PC Maker Fights Lawmaker On CD Ripping/Burning PC maker Gateway is on the road in a campaign to flag down politicians who want copyright-protection technology legislated into digital media formats and devices such as television set-top boxes and computers. Gateway, already known for humorous marketing campaigns featuring chief executive Tedd Waitt and the company's Holstein-cattle-themed packaging, Wednesday began airing a TV commer- cial that showed a truck-driving Waitt and a bovine companion lip-synching to a hip-hop version of the Gordon Lightfoot tune "Sundown." http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175827.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1130832 - - - - - - - - Police Web site briefly redirects traffic to porn page A municipal police department in central Massachusetts yesterday halted the automatic redirection of its Web site visitors to a pornography site. The forwarding from the online home of the Gardner, Mass., police department, www.gardnerpolice.org, to Tinas Free Live Cam started April 5 and ended when Rock A. Barrieau, Gardner deputy police chief, asked the domain names current owner to stop the redirection. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/18348-1.html - - - - - - - - Army poised for Mannheim project The U.S. Army Signal Command and many defense agency partners soon will begin participating in the Mannheim project, an effort designed to help the Army develop an integrated computer network defense as part of its overall information technology transformation and consolidation. The project will begin next week as phased exercises that will incorporate the institutional and tactical Army, said Maj. Gen. James Hylton, commander of the Army Signal Command, speaking at an April 10 asymmetric warfare symposium sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0408/web-mann-04-11-02.asp - - - - - - - - Users slam Microsoft Security Analyser Just a GUI version of HfNetChk, say disgruntled punters. Microsoft released the Baseline Security Analyser (MBSA), a free tool which analyses Windows systems for common security misconfigurations, earlier this week. But users have already slammed it as just a GUI version of the software giant's HfNetChk. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1130844 - - - - - - - - Win-XP Search Assistant silently downloads files Just over a week ago, while searching for a file on a Windows-XP machine, I was surprised to see the Search Assistant attempting to activate my Internet connection. It puzzled me because I wasn't searching the Internet, only my local drive. I was busy with other things at the time, but I made a mental note to look into it soon, which I promptly forgot to do. This morning, Reg reader Jody Melbourne rattled my cage, fresh from having made the same discovery. He'd noticed that the Assistant was establishing a connection with a machine at Microsoft. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24815.html - - - - - - - - Tech standard secures Web services Microsoft, IBM and VeriSign have teamed to create security specifications for Web services, a move analysts say will help drive adoption of the hyped but still emerging technology. The three companies on Thursday will release a new specification, called WS-Security, which will encrypt information and ensure that the data being passed between companies remain confidential. The companies, which are announcing the new security initiative at Microsoft's Tech Ed developer conference, also plan to build five more security specifications in the next 12 to 18 months that will provide additional security measures that businesses may need for Web services. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-880621.html http://zdnet.com.com/2251-1110-880793.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2108175,00.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175804.html http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/17218.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/04/11/web-services.htm - - - - - - - - Anti-junk mail tool cans the spam Napster designer develops info swapping system. Napster designer Jordan Ritter has developed networking technology which he claims can be used to fight junk mail. Ritter's anti-spam tool shuts unwanted mail out of a system by using a network of collaborating computers to swap information about suspect messages. "System tests have shown that it can successfully spot and stop almost all unwanted emails, yet doesn't catch legitimate messages," he said. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1130833 - - - - - - - - Inktomi aims to block Web-based viruses Symantec's antivirus technology will be included in Inktomi's server software, blocking the path of viruses originating from Web pages. Web-software company Inktomi announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with Symantec to include the security company's antivirus technology in Inktomi's caching software. The company hopes the deal will block a relatively new path that viruses have into corporate networks: Web pages. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2108181,00.html - - - - - - - - This Ex-Hacker's Fat Is in the Fire The escapades of larger-than-life German Netrepreneur Kim Schmitz made him a cult figure. Now they've landed him in jail. Eight months before the indictment, Kim Schmitz saw it coming. As German authorities closed in on the one-time hacker and Internet entrepreneur, he threw one last blow-out party in May, 2001 -- immortalizing the revelry with digital photos posted on his Web site. Schmitz and entourage headed off to Monaco from Munich in a fleet of rented sports cars, booked a pair of huge yachts, and invited a bevy of attractive women in bikinis to join them. The champagne alone cost $40,000, Schmitz boasted on his Web site. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/apr2002/nf20020411_3688.htm - - - - - - - - Securing Privacy, Part One: Hardware Issues When asked about efforts to combat the tracking of Internet users, Scott McNealy of Sun famously replied, "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." Despite McNealys flippant attitude towards privacy, it remains a highly contentious issue, with the potential to affect many aspects of individuals' personal and professional lives. Furthermore, the ability to protect their own proprietary information, and to ensure the protection of their customers' crucial data, may mean the difference between success and failure for many organizations. http://online.securityfocus.com/infocus/1568 - - - - - - - - National Academies Study Tempers Call For National ID Efforts to establish a national identification system could backfire unless policymakers address an exhaustive array of privacy, security and logistical concerns, the nation's top research and development institutions warned today. The recommendations were offered in a report endorsed by the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, which is staffed by an array of private sector entities and academic institutions, including Microsoft Corp., AT&T Labs, AOL Time Warner, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, among many others. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175823.html Identity database on the cards http://www.vnunet.com/News/1130830 Panel raises questions about national ID system http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/04/11/national-id.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.