Sepetember 12, 2002 Conflict against Iraq begins online As US gears up for war, digital attacks also increase. The US may not yet have gone to war with Iraq but in cyberspace the conflict has already begun. According to security firm mi2g three major attacks were launched against computer systems hosted by the AOL TimeWarner network on 8 September. A pro-Islamic hacking group dubbed USG (Unix Security Guards) was responsible. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2250993.stm - - - - - - - - Greek court throws out gaming ban case A Greek court has ruled that the country's new ban on electronic games is unconstitutional and throwing out a case brought against two net cafe owners who were charged with allowing their customers to play Counter-Strike and online chess. The two proprietors, along with an employee, could have faced a three month jail sentence and fines of about 5,000 Euro each, along with the loss of their business licences, the BBC reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27086.html - - - - - - - - Spam Hits Some Anti-Spammers, Who Think They Have a Culprit Tens of thousands of readers of e-mail newsletters have recently been inundated with unsolicited overtures from pornography Web sites and get- rich-quick schemes, the newsletter publishers say, and they are blaming the company that manages and distributes the newsletters for them. Particularly galling to some of the publishers is that the news-letters they send out are about ways to use e-mail to market responsibly and about the dangers of sending unsolicited e-mail, known as spam. (NY Times article, free registration required) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/12/technology/12MAIL.html http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-957567.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2122156,00.html - - - - - - - - Anti-spam lists bar Yahoo stores Yahoo's storefronts site has made its way onto two more lists of suspected junk e-mailers. London-based Spamhaus, which runs a spam-blocking service, added Yahoo's stores site to its list of suspected spammers on Wednesday, some two weeks after the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) took a similar step. Although Spamhaus removed the stores site on Thursday after talking with the company, the site is still included on another blocking list run by Spews.org. Spamhaus took the Yahoo site off its list after hearing from the Web portal that it plans to have a new team in place next week to respond to spam complaints, said Steve Linford, director of the Spamhaus Project. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-957781.html - - - - - - - - China ends blocking of Google As mysteriously as it began, blocking by Chinese authorities of the Internet search engine Google was suddenly lifted Thursday. Users in Shanghai and Beijing reported that they could once again view Google, widely used by China's 30 million- plus Net users because it has a powerful feature for finding Chinese-language material online. Starting about Sept. 1, those trying to reach the site began finding themselves rerouted to heavily censored, less effective search engines run by private Chinese Internet companies. http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/4059304.htm http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4059152.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/533459p-4222780c.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27096.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-09-12-blocking-google_x.htm http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105-957742.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/807158.asp http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/09/12/china.google.ap/index.html http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55113,00.html - - - - - - - - UK IT chiefs fear cyber-terrorist attack 11 September warnings still not heeded. More than a third of senior IT executives believe that there is a serious threat of a cyber- terrorism incident this year, according to a poll by vnunet.com's sister publication Computing. But more than 95 per cent believe that companies have not adequately improved the security of their IT systems, despite the events of 11 September last year. Nearly 35 per cent of respondents think that there could be a concerted attack on UK systems, but maintain that their warnings are falling on deaf ears. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1134983 - - - - - - - - Anti-email snooping proposals 'stupid' Bob Jones - the boss of email filtering and blocking outfit Equiinet - describes proposed legislation to outlaw bosses snooping on employees' email as "stupid and ill-considered". Last week Tory MP Michael Fabricant announced he was looking to introduce a Bill that would stop employers from snooping on employees' email. The Lichfield MP wants to give the same level of privacy in law for emails, as currently exists for conventional mail and telephone calls. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/53/27087.html - - - - - - - - Outlook Express becomes attack platform, of sorts There's a pleasing symmetry about the latest security issue involving Outlook Express. For the last couple of years Outlook (Lookout) Express failings have been exploited to infect users. So why not take advantage of its features to send viruses in such a way that they might fool detection by AV and content checking tools? http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/27095.html - - - - - - - - PGP creator joins UK privacy watchdog Cyber rights luminary Phil Zimmermann has joined the advisory council of influential UK privacy watchdogs the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR). Zimmermann, best known as the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) who earned widespread acclaim for facing downs threats from the Feds when he exported his famous encryption program, said he was joining FIPR to further trans-Atlantic co-operation on civil liberties. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/623 - - - - - - - - Security flaw found in Microsoft Word software Microsoft's flagship word processor has a security flaw that could allow the theft of computer files by "bugging" a document with a hidden code, the company disclosed Thursday. It was exploring how to fix the problem and whether to extend the repair to an older version of the software still used by millions.The attack begins when a bugged document goes out, usually with a request to be revised and returned to the sender - a common form of daily communication. When the document is changed and sent back, the targeted file accompanies it. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/533776p-4224491c.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-957786.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2002-09-12-word-flaw_x.htm - - - - - - - - Instant Messaging Takes Aim at Security Vendors unveil tools to secure IM, including antivirus protection and a system designed for the Department of Defense. In an ongoing effort to prove instant messaging technology can live up to strict corporate communication standards, vendors of IM technology unveiled a slew of offerings designed to bolster IM security here at the IM Planet Conference and Expo. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,104882,00.asp - - - - - - - - Study: Bluetooth security should raise red flags Much of the Bluetooth wireless security model is optional but network executives should start setting policies for handling the short-range radio technology, according to new Gartner Inc. research. A key element of that model is link- layer security. But Bluetooth-equipped devices available today are not required to have this activated. The result: Corporate data can pass over a Bluetooth connection between a mobile phone and a laptop unprotected by encryption and vulnerable to interception. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,74152,00.html - - - - - - - - IDF: Enterprise wireless networks secure at last? At the Intel Developer Forum, Intel and Microsoft presented a solution to the very real problem of wireless network security - though it only works for the enterprise. One obstacle: wireless networking is 'like a drug'. In a security briefing at this week's Intel Developer Forum in San Jose, Jesse Walker of Intel and Warren Barkley of Microsoft presented the current developments in 802.11 TGi -- an initiative designed to counteract the many security flaws in 802.11 wireless networking. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2122161,00.html - - - - - - - - Technology Versus Terrorism - Part 3 According to Datacomm Research president Ira Brodsky, today's radiation detectors were not designed for law enforcement officials and customs inspectors to use in the field. In the last year, Americans have had to face their vulnerability to threats they had never before thought about. Terms like "dirty bomb" have entered the national consciousness and vocabulary. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19363.html Technology Versus Terrorism - Part 1 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19351.html Technology Versus Terrorism - Part 2 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19367.html - - - - - - - - Digital Rights Outlook: Squishy Media companies are singing a new song that could be called "Get Squishy With It." The long-running debate over how much digital rights management is too much has changed. Now it's about just how much copy protection files should include, and media companies believe they have the answer: squishy security. http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,55006,00.html - - - - - - - - Guardian angel dust could be added to anti-terror arsenal In the name of homeland security, University of California scientists have developed tiny silicon "smart dust" flakes for detecting poison gases, along with ultra-tough carbon fibers that can blast-proof buildings. Tiny "smart dust" particles can detect biological and chemical agents like anthrax or sarin dissolved in drinking water or floating in the air. The micron-sized chips could be inconspicuously stuck to paint on a wall or dispersed into a cloud of gas, changing color if one of thousands of chemicals is present, said Michael J. Sailor, a professor who headed the research effort. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2002-09-12-smart-dust_x.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. 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