September 24, 2002 Third slapper worm hits the street Hackers eye virus as base for development. Barely 24 hours after the Slapper B worm started to show up on antivirus monitoring stations, a new variant has cropped up. According to security specialist ISS, Slapper C has infected 1,500 servers already and is spreading, although a source point has not been identified at this time. The company warned that the source code for Slapper has spread quickly among the underground community, and will be the development platform of choice for future attacks. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1135304 - - - - - - - - Protest site shut over alleged police 'intimidation' The Parking Clowns Web site - which ridicules the parking policies of Canterbury City Council and its "over zealous [traffic] wardens" - has been suspended following allegations of police intimidation. Schoolmaster Gareth Thomas, the author of Parking Clowns, claims Kent Police are "watching the site like hawks" and believes it is just a matter of time before they shut down the site and prosecute him. Mr Thomas told The Register: "They have intimidated me off the Internet." http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27261.html - - - - - - - - Censorship alleged at East Palo Alto community site A new community Web site in East Palo Alto has removed an online forum on how to improve Ravenswood schools from its home page in response to objections from the school district. The community group Plugged In, which runs the Web site epa.net, terminated the contract of the woman in charge of its content Monday after she vehemently protested what she considers censorship. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4139501.htm - - - - - - - - Falun Gong hijacking TV signals, China claims In their most brazen electronic hacking yet, supporters of the outlawed Falun Gong movement have staged a "TV hijacking" by interrupting transmissions on a satellite system that broadcasts to every corner of China, the government asserted Tuesday night. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/548093p-4328097c.html - - - - - - - - At least 100 countries building cyber weapons Cyberterrorism hyping has reached new heights - according to a report in the Melbourne Herald Sun, at least. The Herald quotes expert Matthew Devost, speaking at a meeting at the US consulate there recently, as claiming the CIA believes at least 100 countries are investigating waging war by computer, or cyberterror. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27265.html - - - - - - - - U.S. braces for "hacktivist" threat The U.S. government is advising system administrators to monitor their systems for computer attacks planned this week, ahead of the Washington, D.C., meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The meetings have spurred protests in previous years, but this year anti-globalization activists are expected to step up their plans, possibly attempting to block traffic on the city's streets on Friday. The U.S. government's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) said Monday that those planning physical disruption might also use computer attacks to "enhance the effects of the physical attack or to complicate the response by emergency services to the attack." http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-959118.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2122755,00.html http://news.com.com/2100-1023-959118.html - - - - - - - - Cybercrime code ready INTERNET service providers are preparing for a new cybercrime code of conduct that will detail how much data they should keep on subscribers in order to co-operate with police and other law enforcement agencies. The Internet Industry Association (IIA) is about to release the draft of its Cybercrime code of conduct, chairman Justin Milne said. The draft code is the result of more than a year of collaboration between the internet industry and representatives from police and crime authorities. http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5153729%255E15306,00.html - - - - - - - - Privacy bill not likely this year U.S. consumers are unlikely to see new federal privacy protections this year, but lawmakers said Tuesday that they are still hammering out compromises with an eye on the next legislative session. With a scant six weeks to go until congressional elections, lawmakers concede that neither a business-friendly bill in the House of Representatives nor a tougher bill in the Senate is likely to become law. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-959274.html - - - - - - - - How a Bank Got E-Mail Scammed Ann Marie Poet's new business partner called himself Dr. Mbuso Nelson, and said he was an official with the Ministry of Mining in South Africa. Nelson popped into Poet's life out of nowhere one day, offering to pay $4.5 million to the 59-year-old secretary for her assistance in transferring $18 million from a bank in South Africa to the United States. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55329,00.html Meet the Nigerian E-Mail Grifters http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,53818,00.html - - - - - - - - Parents shun Web filtering tools 'Complicated' Web control tools put off parents, who prefer to keep computers where they can see what their children are doing, says new research. Only one-third of parents use filtering tools to control their child's access to the Web because they think they are too complicated. Instead, they opt for low-tech methods such as keeping the family PC in the living room to ensure youngsters don't see any unsuitable material. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2122751,00.html - - - - - - - - Watchdog gets tough on text spam ICSTIS - the premium rate telephone services watchdog - has warned that it will come down hard on any operators misleading phone users with dodgy money-making text messaging scams. Publishing its latest report Director George Kidd said: "The use of text messaging to promote premium rate services has many obvious consumer benefits when carried out in a legitimate, responsible manner and in compliance with our Code of Practice. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27266.html Put a tight leash on spammers http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/548663p-4331522c.html - - - - - - - - State readies smart card roll out The State Department will begin distributing 20,000 "smart" cards to employees in October for entry to the department's offices in the United States. The department will replace its machine-read picture identification cards with smart card technology developed by Datakey Inc. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0923/web-smart-09-24-02.asp Military, Private Sector Rush to Adopt High-Tech Security Technology http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56706-2002Sep23.html FBI Fingerprint Research Helps Spawn an Industry http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56742-2002Sep23.html US Army Lab Test Latest Biometric Security Devices http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/washtech/092302-1v.htm - - - - - - - - DARPA seeks total information awareness Biometric, language processing, predictive modeling and database technologies are all key areas of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencys revamped strategy to assist homeland security. The goal of what DARPA calls its total information awareness programs is to prevent terrorist attacks, said Robert L. Popp, deputy director of the agencys Information Awareness Office. Popp spoke yesterday at a conference in Arlington, Va., sponsored by the Biometric Consortium. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/20115-1.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft releases "mod-proof" Xbox Microsoft has changed the internal configuration of its Xbox game console, a move intended to thwart hackers and lower manufacturing costs. Word of the changes began spreading on sites devoted Xbox hacking, with some buyers of recently manufactured Xbox units complaining that mod chips designed for the original console won't work now. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-959084.html - - - - - - - - Start-up banks on hack-proof Linux Start-up Guardian Digital has launched an effort to sell a version of Linux that's less vulnerable to attack, a niche the company hopes will gain it a foothold in the market for the Unix-like operating system. The Allendale, N.J.-based start-up released its EnGarde Secure Professional product Tuesday, a version of Linux that comes with management tools and server software designed to thwart attacks. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-959319.html - - - - - - - - FBI agent: Break down the intelligence wall An exchange between an FBI agent and the agencys headquarters, made public last week, shows that even before Sept.11, the barrier between intelligence and law enforcement investigationsa barrier designed to protect civil libertiesgot in the way of efforts to protect Americans from terrorists. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0902/092302b1.htm - - - - - - - - Military technology being touted to rescue civilians Call it a dividend from the war on terrorism. High-tech military gadgets, often classified, are now being used or soon will be to help save civilian lives in the United States. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2002-09-23-military-gadgets_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. Copyright 2000-2002, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.