September 11, 2002 All gave some, some gave all.....Never forget Cyberstalker gets 8 years A man convicted under stricter federal laws that outlaw cyber-stalking was sentenced to eight years in prison. In June, a jury convicted Eric Bowker, 39, of stalking television reporter Tina Knight by sending obscene e-mails and telephone messages and by stealing her mail. He became the first person in Ohio to be convicted under an expanded federal stalking law enacted in 2000 that includes the Internet. U.S. District Judge John Manos sentenced Bowker on Tuesday to eight years and ordered him to undergo therapy. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/532629p-4215293c.html - - - - - - - - Attack anniversary cyberthreats unfounded -experts Fears of a cyberattack inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks faded Tuesday, a day ahead of the anniversary, with the only threat to emerge a year-old virus hoax called ``World Trade Center Survivor.'' Experts predicted that Wednesday is likely to be just another day on the Internet, and if anything a quiet day for cybercriminals. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4047003.htm Broken Sept 11 worm poses little risk Virus writers have exploited interest in the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks with their latest attempts to create a damaging email worm. Fortunately due to bugs in the code of Chet-A it fails to work properly and is considered a minimal threat. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/27070.html http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-957493.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-957493.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/sept11/2002-09-11-cyberattacks_x.htm http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/virus/story/0,10801,74153,00.html - - - - - - - - Greek game ban overturned A Greek law banning all electronic games in public has been declared unconstitutional by a court that has dismissed two separate cases against three people charged under the law. The decision by the Thessaloniki court could eventually see the law repealed, according to reports. Prior to Tuesday's decision, computer game players and Internet cafes owners in Greece said they would fight against the law. According to the law's opponents, it was conceived to address illicit gambling but was written so broadly that playing any electronic game could be considered illegal. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-957487.html http://news.com.com/2100-1040-957519.html - - - - - - - - Customers blame spam on filched lists E-mail management company Lyris Technologies on Wednesday said it is investigating spam complaints that may involve hundreds of thousands of compromised customer e-mail addresses. At least three current and former Lyris customers this week complained that recipients of their e-mail newsletters have been receiving spam. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-957567.html - - - - - - - - Win-XP Help Center request wipes your HD A malicious Win-XP Help Center request can easily and silently delete the contents of any directory on your Windows machine, we've learned. Worse, MS has rolled the fix silently into SP1 without making a public announcement. A good sketch of the problem in English, along with a harmless self-test, can be found here, thanks to Mike at http://unity.skankhouse.org, who did some tinkering after noticing a tip on a BBS. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27074.html - - - - - - - - House committee passes privacy protection bill Responding to complaints about the loss of privacy caused by new regulations and policies enacted since last year's terrorist attacks, a congressional committee approved a bill this week requiring federal agencies to consider the impact new rules could have on individuals' privacy. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved by voice vote the Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act yesterday, clearing it for consideration by the full U.S. House of Representatives sometime next month. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,74155,00.html - - - - - - - - Printed Web Info OK for Inmates A U.S. District Court in San Francisco has struck down a California prison policy that bars inmates from receiving material printed from the Internet. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California sued the state on behalf of Pelican Bay prisoner Frank Clement, who claimed that the policy violated his First Amendment rights. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55097,00.html - - - - - - - - End sought in Internet music case Entertainment industry groups have asked a federal court judge to rule before a trial on their copyright infringement claims against Internet file- swapping services KaZaA, Grokster and Morpheus. Attorneys for StreamCast Networks, which distributes the peer-to-peer software program Morpheus, have also asked the judge to rule that distribution of the software does not violate copyright law. The Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association asked a United States District Court judge Monday to issue a summary judgment in their favor. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4046371.htm - - - - - - - - Commercial sector shares threat information The Information Sharing and Analysis Centers, established in key commercial sectors to help protect the nations critical infrastructure, have evolved over the last year, developing a structure to share threat information among ISACs. Code Red was the turning point, said Pete Allor, operations director for the IT ISAC. We realized how useful we could be. Thats also the first time we reached out to government, and government reached back. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/19952-1.html - - - - - - - - Homeland IT office reaching out The Office of Homeland Security's information technology office soon will begin a big outreach to public- and private-sector entities not yet directly involved in the homeland security effort, officials said Sept. 10. Starting Sept. 24, officials from the office will be meeting with chief information officers at the federal agencies not tapped to move into the proposed Homeland Security Department, said Jim Flyzik, former CIO at the Treasury Department and now on detail to the Office of Homeland Security as an IT adviser. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0909/web-cios-09-11-02.asp - - - - - - - - Cybersecurity firms not profiting as expected Not long after last year's terror attacks, Tony Maier's phones at RedSky Technologies Inc. were ringing with inquiries about the company's "E-911" software, which pinpoints locations of employees dialing for help from inside large buildings. The Chicago company's sales continue to grow, but they've not met the expectations raised by a surge of interest in security and safety technology after the attacks. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4045290.htm - - - - - - - - E-terrorism: Preparing for the unthinkable One year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, many chilling questions remain. What lessons have we learned? Can we prevent new attacks? How can we minimize damages? And, how will this new order affect our daily lives? http://zdnet.com.com/2251-1110-955704.html - - - - - - - - Sept. 11: A year later, online privacy and security still weak A year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, average Americans are subject to more surveillance when they go online, and their Internet-connected PCs may not be any safer from intruders, some experts say. On the other hand, some of the laws that opponents and privacy advocates claimed would compromise privacy were quashed. For example, Congress rejected measures restricting the distribution of encryption software and implementing federal identification cards. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,74146,00.html - - - - - - - - Security's tight for SQL server software Microsoft is aiming to shore up the security of its SQL Server database management software. The next version of SQL Server, code-named "Yukon," will include a long list of new security-related features when it debuts in 2003, said James Hamilton, SQL Server's design architect. He said that Microsoft's database team spent more than a month auditing the software code for security holes. Yukon will include the ability to more easily add security fixes, Hamilton said. Previously, database administrators had to install patches one at a time, a several-step process in which mistakes could be made, he added. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-957376.html - - - - - - - - China's upgraded 'Great Fire Wall' marks new level of online censorship Call it an upgrade of the Great Fire Wall of China. In the last week and a half, China has begun using more sophisticated, expensive technologies in an effort to keep its growing number of Internet users from viewing undesirable content on the Web. Starting about Sept. 1, users of the U.S.-based search engine Google have found themselves rerouted to a half dozen Chinese-run search engines that are less effective. Google has a feature for finding Chinese-language material online. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/532343p-4213519c.html AltaVista and Google to fight Chinese censorship http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27062.html - - - - - - - - In the wake of the attacks, altered government IT landscape, morale The events of Sept. 11 rocked the world. They also rattled government IT to its core, transforming the way officials view systems and information security. For one thing, the apocalyptic strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon made the threat of malicious-code incursions look like kids stuff. http://www.gcn.com/21_27a/news/19933-1.html - - - - - - - - Terror Czar: The War Is Digital Invading Iraq or silencing Syria won't put an end to terrorism, but according to an influential retired U.S. Army general, figuring out how to effectively disrupt the communications of extremist factions could. Speaking to an audience of security professionals on Wednesday, Barry McCaffrey, a security expert who advises Congress, said that winning against Saddam Hussein will be relatively easy. Protecting civil rights while battling terror will be harder. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55089,00.html - - - - - - - - How Changed Laws Changed U.S. Americans' attitudes toward the war on terrorism have changed dramatically over the past year. Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, a CBS/NewYork Times poll found that 79 percent of Americans were willing to forfeit personal liberties to fight terrorism. But a Princeton survey in May found that only 40 percent of respondents said they trusted the government. The American Civil Liberties Union and others have attributed the fading support to the fears that legislation such as the USA Patriot Act -- which gives terrorism investigators broad surveillance powers - will erode the constitutional freedoms of ordinary citizens. Although many of the surveillance provisions of the act expire after five years, others do not. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,55065,00.html - - - - - - - - Security innovation: Building a better louse trap In the last few years, most of the innovation in security has involved finding clever new ways to do things with existing technologies. Are there revolutionary changes in the wings? Everyone knows seatbelts are a good idea, but when it comes down to it many of us just forget to put them on. The inevitable result, should we be caught in a prang, goes without saying. Data security, amazingly enough, isnt much different. Although malicious hackers have been perpetrating their nasty deeds for decades, its only recently that companies have quietly begun to take real ownership of the issue. http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/enterprise/story/0,2000025001,20268032,00.htm - - - - - - - - Ensuring privacy's post-attack survival The bill to create the new Department of Homeland Security is now before the Senate. The new Department, once created, will enhance the federal government's ability to collect and use information about American citizens--or in today's favorite catch phrase, to "connect the dots." But which dots will be connected, by whom and for what purpose? http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-957464.html - - - - - - - - Better communications could have saved lives The lack of an interoperable communications system for first responders could have led to the deaths of several hundred firefighters trying to save lives on Sept. 11, an Office of Homeland Security executive said today at the Homeland Security and National Defense Symposium in Atlantic City, N.J. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/19977-1.html - - - - - - - - NCS working on pair of pilots The National Communications System is in the early stages of two pilot projects aimed at improving the reliability and speed of the telecommunications and wireless systems for first responders and other key personnel during a national crisis or disaster. Brenton Greene, deputy manager of NCS, said one pilot project is an emergency notification system that would use Internet-based, wireless and other telecommunications means to notify a "few thousand key people" in the Washington, D.C., area during a national disaster. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0909/web-ncs-09-11-02.asp - - - - - - - - U.S.-Canadian projects to shore up border are under way The Customs Service and the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency have begun a pilot of an intelligent transportation system that uses Global Positioning System data to monitor ships in the St. Lawrence Seaway. The pilot is one of several initiatives the U.S. and Canadian governments are pursuing under the Smart Border Action Plan signed by the two countries in December. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/19943-1.html - - - - - - - - Web-based disaster plans sought Building Owners and Managers Association International, an advocacy group for the commercial real-estate industry, is exploring the implementation of a Web-based program that provides firefighters, police officers and other rescue personnel with critical information about a building to better prepare them in case disaster strikes. http://www.msnbc.com/news/806541.asp *********************************************************** 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. 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