July 19, 2002 Five-year jail term for computer crook An Israeli-born man found guilty of a PS14 million ($22 million) value-added tax fraud involving computer equipment was sentenced in London this week to 5 years in jail. Amiram Hashash, who was general manager of a company called Compulog Ltd from 1997 to 2000, had purchased large quantities of computer components from various "missing" traders. Compulog reclaimed the VAT (sales tax) on these invoices and made payments for the invoiced items to a large number of overseas third-party accounts controlled by Hashash, London's Wood Green Crown Court found. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1103-945142.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2119461,00.html - - - - - - - - Earthlink wins $24 million from spammer EarthLink has won more than $24 million in a claim against a spammer, but the real victory is in preventing members from being spammed, the company says. EarthLink filed its claim against Tennessee resident K.C. "Khan" Smith in August 2001, accusing him of violating federal and state Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes, the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984, the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 and various state laws. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-945169.html http://news.com.com/2100-1023-945148.html - - - - - - - - Dutch judge tears up bulk mail ban An Amsterdam court has thrown out a lawsuit requiring Dutch outfit AbFab to pay 50 every time it sent unsolicited email to customers of ISP XS4ALL. XS4ALL had issued a lawsuit arguing that, based on telecommunications law, the right to privacy and network ownership rights, Abfab was committing a civil wrong every time its sent a spam message to the ISP's customers and ought to be fined. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26283.html - - - - - - - - Official: USA vulnerable to cyber terrorism Government agencies, businesses and utility companies are making rapid gains in protecting their computer networks from hackers, but many remain vulnerable to cyberattacks, a White House aide said Thursday."The key pieces have done a good job of it," Schmidt said after speaking at a New Technology Week newsletter seminar. "But, by any stretch of the imagination, this does not mean the work is done." http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2002-07-19-cyber-terrorism_x.htm - - - - - - - - Are Hacking Defenses Winning the War? DoS attacks remain the most common threat. But, according to security experts, DoS attacks do not necessarily present the same kind of threat to national infrastructure that they once did. The problem with hack attacks these days is that they are no longer easily recognizable. Like snipers, they hide in the shadows. They can also disguise themselves as something else. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18663.html - - - - - - - - Shifting Targets Hacker Attacks on Windows PCs Down, But Up on Other Platforms. While attacks on Windows machines are experiencing a sharp decline, hackers are turning their attention to Web servers based on the Linux operating system, according to a new report from British security firm mi2g. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/TechTV/techtv_hackertargets020719.html - - - - - - - - Abortioniscybersquatting.com Type in DrinkCoke.org into your Internet browser and you won't see the famous loopy logo or any reference to the caffeinated brown fizz. What you will see are plenty of photographs of dismembered, bloody fetuses. The venerable soft-drink maker, along with dozens of other businesses, news media organizations, school districts and celebrities, has been targeted in a recent cybersquatting campaign using known trademarks and names to drive traffic to the gruesome content of www.abortionismurder.org. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53968,00.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-07-19-cybersquatting_x.htm - - - - - - - - Network defenders crack challenge In an attempt to find order in chaos, network defenders across the globe took on the Honeynet Project's Reverse Challenge--to analyze and decipher binary code captured in the wild--and an Australian programmer is reaping the rewards of sweet success. Unwitting hackers and crackers running amok on computer networks sometimes break into false networks, or "honeynets", designed to let hackers do their thing while investigators look on, analyzing their tricks of the trade. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-945081.html - - - - - - - - Con artists use suckers list database Former fraud victims targeted by new scams Telemarketing predators apparently have a great new source of leads: a database of victims who have recently been scammed. MSNBC.com has learned that Canadian-based criminals are calling recent scam victims around the United States, promising to get their money back for a fee. http://www.msnbc.com/news/781907.asp - - - - - - - - Snuff out death website, say parents Chilean site tells you how and when you will die. Parents in Chile are calling on the government to kill a website that tells users how and when they will die. The Spanish language site predicts the date and manner of users' deaths based on responses to 23 questions such as: Do you like driving fast? Have you ever considered suicide? Do you own a firearm? Based on this information, visitors are told that they won't come out of a coma; will kill themselves drink driving; or be killed in a terrorist attack. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1133718 - - - - - - - - BN.com: The Hole Story Shopping at BarnesandNoble.com can leave your life as easy to read as an open book. Mark Wieczorek found that through a flaw in bn.com's website, his personal information was easily accessible to anyone who used his discontinued e-mail address. The hole allows a new account to be created using a previously discontinued address with nothing more than a new password. The new account then displays the previous user's name, address, last four numbers of their credit card and their order history. http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,53942,00.html - - - - - - - - New thomas.greene spam circulating A spam message with no subject, a from-field containing "thomas.greene" and a return addy of thomas.greene@theregister.co.uk is circulating. Since it's impossible for me to use the SMTP service at El Reg from outside the office, it's clearly a forgery. I always use a different SMTP server. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26294.html - - - - - - - - Gates: Microsoft Spent $100M on Security In an effort to create a more secure environment, Microsoft has already taken some critical first steps, Gates said, by changing the way it designs and develops software. After suffering a series of security flaws that have shaken customer confidence, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has taken to e-mail to reassure customers that Microsoft has heavily invested in its "Trustworthy Computing" initiative and is on track to ensure the security of its products. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18668.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-07-18-gates-email-_x.htm - - - - - - - - The year of the web worm The spread of Code Red around the internet. This time last year the computer virus called Code Red was supposed to bring the internet to a screeching halt. With the benefit of hindsight we now know that the net was never in danger of being crippled by the virus, but at the time the danger seemed very real. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2138000/2138927.stm - - - - - - - - Credit card abuse details widen The latest in a series of hearings looking at waste, fraud and abuse of government-issued credit cards described Army personnel who used the cards to pay for cruises, gamble online and get cash for use at strip clubs. "The General Accounting Office has found everything but the kitchen sink. And now we found that, too," Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said. "We have found government employees using their cards to make mortgage payments and pay closing costs, to buy cars, an engagement ring, racetrack betting, Elvis photos from Graceland, a framed John Elway jersey, a trip to the Rose Bowl game, and even Caribbean cruises. You name it. They're doing it," Grassley said in his testimony. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0715/web-card-07-19-02.asp - - - - - - - - Lawmakers flag intell agencies The intelligence agencies have not had the technology to effectively do their jobs, in part because Congress has not provided the funding. That must change, a report by the House Intelligence Committee's Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee says. The report, released July 17, found that these problems in part resulted from the country's surprise at the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0715/web-intell-07-19-02.asp - - - - - - - - EFF co-founder's suit claims airline ID requirements are unconstitutional A prominent civil libertarian sued the U.S. government and two major airlines Thursday, claiming that security requirements which compel U.S. citizens to show identification before flying are unconstitutional. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco, John Gilmore, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that requiring ID from travelers who are not suspected of being a threat to airport security violates several amendments to the U.S. Constitution. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3690732.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.