July 26, 2002 Princeton 'hacks' Yale admissions site Yale is threatening to sue Princeton after officials at the rival Ivy League college allegedly hacked into Yale's Web site to gain unauthorised access to its admission decisions. According to Yale Daily News, Princeton staff gained unauthorised access to decisions on at least 11 prospective Yale under-graduates in early April through its deeply insecure online admission notification system. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/549 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2119887,00.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/479086p-3827047c.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26396.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2002-07-25-ivy-hack_x.htm http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18782.html http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,54140,00.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/785677.asp Spy-vy League: Yale reports Web break-in http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-946558.html - - - - - - - - Ethical hacker faces war driving charges A Houston computer security analyst has been charged with hacking after demonstrating the insecurity of a county courts wireless LAN. Stefan Puffer, 33, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Wednesday with two counts of fraud for allegedly breaking into Harris County district clerk's wireless computer system. It's believed to be the first case of its kind in the US. Puffer, who was employed briefly by the county's technology department in 1999, could get five years in jail and faces a $250,000 fine on each count if convicted, the Houston Chronicle reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/26397.html - - - - - - - - Naked ambition lands couple in jail Nudity on the internet? Whatever next? Police in Egypt are running an exposure campaign to crack down on internet nudity. A husband and wife were recently jailed for six months after being found guilty of posting pornographic photos of themselves online. Apparently the couple's activities were being tracked by the Egyptian vice squad. The crackdown follows increased surveillance on the internet, particularly in those areas that fall into the 'vice' category. Another couple were busted in Cairo in May and arrested on suspicion of posting nude photos of the woman online. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1133955 - - - - - - - - Al-Qaeda cyber alarm sounded There is a 50% chance that the next time al-Qaeda terrorists strike the United States, their attack will include a cyberattack, Rep. Lamar Smith R, Texas, warned. In closed-door briefings for members of Congress, Smith said officials from federal law enforcement and intelligence-gathering agencies disclosed that al-Qaeda operatives have been exploring U.S. Web sites and probing the electronic infrastructure of American companies in search of ways to disable power and water supplies, disrupt phone service and damage other parts of the critical infrastructure. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2002-07-26-fcw-attacks_x.htm - - - - - - - - Bin Laden hunt enters cyberspace Web monitored for signs of most-wanted man. US intelligence agents in pursuit of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden are now monitoring websites for messages to his followers. Counter-terrorism experts believe they have found markers or code words that indicate bin Laden has been attempting to signal to supporters that he is alive. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1133909 US anticipates year of internet terror http://www.vnunet.com/News/1133913 FBI will send states cyberterror alerts http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/19445-1.html - - - - - - - - Critics Blast IT Loophole in Homeland Security Plan The White House proposal to create a Homeland Security department could allow corporate scofflaws to hide nefarious business activities from the public in the name of national security, critics warned today. The proposal would permit companies that own and operate critical computer systems to share information on network vulnerabilities and hacker attacks with federal investigators without fear that the data could be made public through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58311-2002Jul24.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1133911 Congress blasts Feds on cyber-terror FOIA games There was a fabulous explosion Wednesday during an otherwise typical cyberterror dog-and-pony show on the Hill when House Government Reform Subcommittee Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky (Democrat, Illinois) lost her composure during a discussion of new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) modifications proposed by the GB Junior Administration as part of its Homeland Defense initiative. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/550 - - - - - - - - Hollywood wants hacking license to stamp out illicit downloads Hollywood escalated its fight against Internet trading of movies and music, successfully urging key lawmakers to consider letting the industry use hacker tactics to stop Americans' exchange of songs and films they didn't buy. The broad new legal powers proposed by a congressman - and endorsed quickly by several others - would let record and movie studios hack into Americans' personal computers to find illegally shared music and movies. They could also try to disable or interfere with file-swapping programs. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/478524p-3821756c.html http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18766.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1133908 Valenti backs away from P2P hack bill http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26402.html Flak Over Hack Hushes Talk http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,54168,00.html The Dark Side of Hacking Bill http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,54153,00.html - - - - - - - - Nintendo and Nokia are top pirate booty Fake mobile phones and game consoles were the most popular items to be smuggled into the EU, according to new figures. Nokia mobile phones and Nintendo game consoles were the runaway favourites of smugglers caught bringing fake goods into the European Union in 2001, figures released by the EU show. Customs officers in the 15 EU member states seized about 530,000 counterfeit Nokia products in 2001, or 52 percent of electrical items intercepted. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2119889,00.html - - - - - - - - On the trail of an identity thief Victims sleuthing provides rare glimpse of crime at work. It was just another stolen credit card number, leaked by just another careless Web site, except for one thing the victim wouldnt take it sitting down. So he made a few phone calls, and managed to retrace the thiefs steps. Peeking through accounts at anonymous e-mail services, information brokers, and online banks, the victim got a rare glimpse of an identity thief at work. Heres how that one stolen credit card became three bank checks totaling $3,000 and perhaps much more. http://www.msnbc.com/news/785533.asp - - - - - - - - Memory Cards Get More Secure Proposed security standard would lead to safer shopping and storage on your handheld device. Several major memory card makers, as part of a five member consortium called 5C, have developed a new Mobile Commerce Extension standard for flash memory cards, they announced Thursday. The five companies are Hitachi, Ingentix GmbH, Matsushita Electric Industrial, SanDisk, and Toshiba. The MC Extension Standard outlines how the security functions--content protection and authentication--can be implemented in flash memory cards, a joint statement says. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,103232,00.asp - - - - - - - - Big software pushes hard for national Gestapo I was puzzled last month when industry lobby the Business Software Alliance (BSA) released a cyberterror FUD bomb. Or, rather, a FUD dud -- a laughably meaningless survey of the opinions of so-called "IT pros" all laboring under the delusion that a deadly national catastrophe by electronic means is just around the corner. Was that a one-off lapse in judgment, I wondered. A quick and dirty publicity stunt? Why would the BSA suddenly become concerned with cyberterror? http://online.securityfocus.com/news/551 - - - - - - - - The week in review: PCs under attack Imagine trying to boot up your computer and finding that a hacker had disabled it or destroyed your data, and then imagine that you had no legal recourse because the U.S. government sanctioned it. That nightmare could become a reality if Hollywood executives get their way. A bill introduced into the House of Representatives would allow copyright owners to legally hack into peer-to-peer networks and disable PCs used for illicit file trading. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-946587.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-946571.html - - - - - - - - Finallyreal security standards Last week's announcement by the Center for Internet Security that it was releasing its long-awaited security standards is good news for everyone. Everyone, that is, except the Forces of Evil, in the form of hackers, virus writers, and worm purveyors. It's good news because CIS has done more than simply make general recommendations, or even just standards. Instead, CIS has developed standards you can actually use, and tools that you can use to test your own compliance. http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2875475,00.html - - - - - - - - High-tech military ID cards to store fingerprint data Future versions of military identification cards will encode information about fingerprints or other physical characteristics, the Pentagon's latest move to tighten security. The newest cards already have information such as name, rank and serial number on a computer chip embedded in the card under the user's picture. The Defense Department passed out the one-millionth ID card earlier this week to an Army soldier who works at the Pentagon. Officials hope to distribute the high-tech ID cards to more than 3 million military and civilian Defense Department workers in the next several years. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2002-07-26-fingerprint-cards_x.htm - - - - - - - - Fraud: Skip the Surprise, Mr. President In an economic climate brought on by questionable accounting practices, there is certainly no reason for surprise. During his speeches about corporate malfeasance, President Bush wears an expression of concern, the kind born of deep shock. Questionable accounting practices at a telecommunications firm? Say it ain't so, Joe! Although this dumbfounded appearance is common with the President, it is now a look worn by others in both the government and the private sector, as if this sudden wave of cooked books is as alarming as it is disturbing. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18774.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.