June 19, 2002 Seattle man faces jail over complaint Web site Soon after moving into a retirement home, Paul Trummel began complaining that his neighbors fell asleep with their TVs blaring or flushed their toilets during quiet hours. Then he really turned up the heat by starting a Web site accusing tenants and staff members of housing-law violations and conspiracies. The Web site landed him in jail for 3 months and made the 68-year-old an unlikely hero to free-speech advocates in a positively bizarre First Amendment case. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/439858p-3520588c.html - - - - - - - - Pro-Islamic hackers join forces Tensions in Kashmir are mirrored on internet. There is mounting evidence that individual hacker groups connected by a pro-Islamic agenda are working together to carry out hack attacks, say experts. Security firm mi2g says an alliance of anti-Israel, anti-US and anti-India groups are increasingly highlighting issues such as the Middle East conflict, the war on terrorism and the Kashmir stand-off as part of their destructive digital attacks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2052000/2052320.stm - - - - - - - - Lawmakers draft new 'virtual'-child-porn ban A House of Representatives committee voted Wednesday to reinstate a recently rejected ban on Internet child pornography, hoping that a more narrowly tailored version would pass courtroom muster. The Supreme Court struck down a previous law that outlawed "virtual" child pornography in April, saying it could criminalize simulated sex acts in mainstream movies like Traffic and Romeo and Juliet. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/06/19/virtual-porn.htm - - - - - - - - U.S. Denies Data Retention Plans The Justice Department refutes claims that Internet service providers could be forced to spy on their customers as part of the U.S. strategy for securing cyberspace. An early draft of the White House's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace envisions the same kind of mandatory customer data collection and retention by U.S. Internet service providers as was recently enacted in Europe, according to sources who have reviewed portions of the plan. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/489 - - - - - - - - Bush cybersecurity strategy to be a living document Howard Schmidt, vice chairman of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, attended the fourth and final White House- sponsored "town hall meeting" on cybersecurity last night in Atlanta before the release in September of the next version of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,72108,00.html Panelists warn of risks involved with logging on to the Internet At a town hall meeting on cybersecurity, experts warned that the risks of going online have become especially prevalent as hackers find new ways to poke holes in Internet security systems. Tom Noonan, chief executive officer for Internet Security Systems, told the gathering Tuesday that logging onto the Internet is like entering a dangerous neighborhood. Risks include identity fraud and intellectual property and credit card theft. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3501396.htm http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/06/19/cyber.security.meeting.ap/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/06/19/cybersecurity.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/439169p-3516401c.html - - - - - - - - A Global Audience, a World of Worries? Australian Court's Ruling in Libel Case Could Have a Chilling Effect on Web Publications. Web publishers around the world are awaiting a decision in a libel case before Australia's highest court that could determine whether they will be required to adhere to widely differing foreign standards when stories are posted on the Internet. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5695-2002Jun18.html - - - - - - - - 'Ranger' Vs. the Movie Pirates Software Is Studios' Latest Weapon in A Growing Battle. Ranger is burrowing through the public parts of your computer, sniffing around, turning over bits of data, trying to find out if you've stolen a movie over the Internet. Ranger is scouring the globe -- Web sites, chat rooms, newsgroups and peer-to-peer file-sharing sites -- spanning 60 countries, searching in English, Chinese and Korean. Ranger's work is helping to bust illegal movie sites in Iran, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Ranger is 24-7. Ranger is relentless. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5144-2002Jun18.html - - - - - - - - Censor secrecy okay: tribunal INTERNET censors will continue their work in secret, following an Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision to withhold information about banned content. Electronic Frontiers Australia had requested access under the Freedom of Information Act to a number of Australian Broadcasting Authority documents relating to censored websites. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,4526459%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html - - - - - - - - E-Authentication RFI due this month By the end of the month, the General Services Administration will release its formal call to industry for ideas on how to proceed toward a single authentication infrastructure for all e-government services. The GSA-led e-Authentication team plans to release a request for information within the next two weeks for the gateway, which is intended to validate users for the other e-government initiative applications, Steve Timchak, GSA's e-Authentication program manager, said June 18 at the Industry Day Conference at the Commerce Department. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0617/web-gate-06-19-02.asp - - - - - - - - Australian anti-spam fight getting slimy Supporters of the anti-spam advocate who is being sued in a controversial Australian suit are on the verge of kicking off a slime campaign against the alleged spammer who is seeking damages, and are planning protests at seminars conducted by one of his companies. Perth-based direct marketing company T3 Direct is seeking AU$43,750 in compensation from Joseph McNichol, whom it alleges caused the company to be blacklisted on the spews.org Web site. A writ of summons was filed against McNichol on May 24. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1106-937384.html - - - - - - - - SpamNet enlists you to fight spam Ordinary Web surfers could play a major role in stemming the rising tide of junk e-mail crippling the Net, if a new anti-spam company hits its mark. After operating in stealth mode for nearly two-and-a-half years, San Mateo, Calif.-based Cloudmark on Wednesday is taking the wraps off a new spam-fighting tool, called SpamNet, which aims to use the power of the people to weed out unsolicited commercial e-mail. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-937314.html http://news.com.com/2100-1023-937300.html - - - - - - - - Apache Update: Two days till web meltdown Servers must be patched immediately, says Apache expert IT managers have only "a couple of days" before crackers produce an exploit capable of attacking over 50 million web servers left open by the latest Apache security flaw. Speaking exclusively to vnunet.com, Mark Cox, founding member of the Apache Software Foundation, warned: "We have to assume that serious and intelligent crackers will produce an exploit that targets this vulnerability in a couple of days. Then it's only a little while before it filters down to the script kiddies. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132795 Update: Apache users urged to upgrade to fix security flaws http://www.idg.net/ic_876944_1794_9-10000.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/25779.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft's Global Insecurity Complex Linux and other open-source security programs are quickly gaining ground on Microsoft's products. Can Redmond turn it around? Historians tracing the tectonic movements of Microsoft (MSFT) have at their disposal a nifty shortcut: the company's habit of outlining its future through memos. http://www.business2.com/articles/web/0,1653,41447,FF.html - - - - - - - - Report: Viruses spreading on the double The first half of 2002 has seen worms infect PCs at twice the rate they did last year, says security company MessageLabs. And they're more malicious too. Computer viruses are proliferating faster than ever, according to British security company MessageLabs, which reported Tuesday that it caught as many pests in the first half of 2002 as it did in all of last year. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2112071,00.html - - - - - - - - Israel a global pacesetter in high-tech security Prospects also good for biotechnology, life sciences When Israel orbited its Ofeq 5 spy satellite late last month, the payload's origin was no surprise to people familiar with the nation's technology scene. For Elop Electro-Optics Industries, the company that designed and made the sophisticated but lightweight camera, it was business as usual. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3497022.htm - - - - - - - - The Internet Gets Serious Maybe the Internet thrill isn't gone, but is that it over there pulling on its jacket and heading for the door? The Net promised to let consumers read everything, hear everything, play anything. Any David with a computer could elbow aside the most gargantuan Goliath. No matter the question, the answer was yes, sure, it's possible, do it. Today, the Internet is messy, dangerous ground. Viruses and system break-ins are on the rise, while vested interests battle over what isn't allowed. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/488 - - - - - - - - Hacking's not just for geeks Blended security threats are increasing, meaning that chief information officers have more to worry about than just hackers. As the term hacking has broadened to encompass a wider group of people, chief information officers will see more and more blended security threats within the next couple of years, according to one security researcher. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2112082,00.html - - - - - - - - Implementing Networks Taps with Network Intrusion Detection Systems Over the past decade or so, the use of switches to replace hubs has increased substantially. This is largely due to the increased size of networks, and the requirement for increasingly faster and more efficient networks. On most networks, the data must now be dependable and timely. This transition from hubs to switches, however, has generated a conflict with already deployed and designed network intrusion detection systems. http://online.securityfocus.com/infocus/1594 - - - - - - - - Enterprise VPNs: Safe And Secure For security-minded IT pros, the key word in "virtual private networks" is "private." The last thing you want is for sensitive information to end up in the hands of hackersor of the competition. Maybe you can rest a little easier. By all accounts, VPNs are becoming more and more secure. Leading vendors continue to raise the bar on security technology. And companies like Cisco, Check Point, and GE are adding new VPN functionality for voice and video even as they continue to harden the links. http://www.techweb.com/tech/security/20020222_security - - - - - - - - Information Technology and the War on Terrorism Join computer security, privacy and surveillance expert Stewart Baker of the law firm Steptoe & Johnson to find out how the government and the private sector are using the Internet to fight terrorism, and how they prevent the Internet from being used as a weapon against themselves. http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/02/technews_baker_061902.htm - - - - - - - - Citizen Tips on Terrorists: Leads or Liabilities? Government Investigators Say Sorting Through Reports From the Public Is Proving Difficult. The young hacker sounded frantic. He said he had been on the digital trail of some people he believed were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks and overheard them plotting a new one. This time the target would be "Brine," an apparent code name that seemed to refer to Salt Lake City. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7913-2002Jun18.html - - - - - - - - Lech Walesa: Tech Freedom Fighter When former Polish president Lech Walesa pops into a chat room to discuss politics, people have a hard time believing they're debating issues with the man largely credited for the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe. In a telephone conversation from his home in Gdansk, the former shipyard electrician turned Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke about government attempts to stifle technology or to use it to spy on personal communication. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,53299,00.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.