October 8, 2002 Police close fake online bank British police on Tuesday said they uncovered a fake Internet bank used to con at least two people out of nearly $100,000. The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) said the Web site had been set up using a domain name very similar to that of "a major British bank" and appeared almost identical. "It looks very professional," said a spokesman, declining to name the bank involved because the investigation is still ongoing. "There's also a reputation issue to think of and the issue of trust online." http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1106-959644.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2308887.stm - - - - - - - - Virginia disciplines 86 workers for misusing Internet The Virginia Transportation Department last week disciplined 86 employees and contract workers for abuse and excessive use of the Internet. VDOT last week fired 17 employees for accessing sexually explicit sites, according to a fact sheet issued by the department. Its internal audit arm identified 15 of the employees, and two others turned themselves in. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/20222-1.html - - - - - - - - Feds probe digital TV piracy furor The Justice Department is investigating allegations that a company controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. hacked a rival's protection technology and distributed the information on the Internet. The U.S. Attorney's office in San Diego served employees of NDS Americas, Inc. in Newport Beach with 31 subpoenas for documents last week, officials said Monday. The Justice inquiry mirrors claims made earlier this year in a federal lawsuit filed in San Jose by Vivendi Universal's Paris-based Canal Plus Group, NDS said in a statement. Justice officials declined comment. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/565896p-4448440c.html http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/biztech/10/08/digitaltv.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - Bugbear to set new virus record The Bugbear computer virus may be spreading more slowly this week than last, but it's still on track to be the most prolific e-mail virus to date, antivirus experts said on Monday. Last week, e-mail service provider MessageLabs intercepted 320,000 missives containing the Bugbear attachment, more than the Klez.h virus managed in its first week in April. Klez.h has created the most-ever Internet traffic so far. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-961130.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-10-08-bugbear_x.htm - - - - - - - - Clarke stumps for national Internet Operations Center Presidential adviser Richard Clarke today asked the IT industry to support a proposed Internet Operations Center that could provide advance warning of cyberthreats as they spread. Id like you all to think about it, he told an audience at a users conference hosted in Washington by Symantec Corp. of Cupertino, Calif. Clarke, head of the presidents Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, assured the audience that the center is not a back-door attempt by the government to regulate the Internet. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/20223-1.html - - - - - - - - House backs new privacy rules The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a measure that would require the government to consider how new laws would affect the privacy rights of its citizens. As part of a last-minute flurry of activity before it adjourns for the year, the House voted Monday to require government agencies to determine how new regulations would affect citizens' privacy. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-961213.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/818757.asp - - - - - - - - Amazon under fire again over privacy Two privacy groups are urging state and federal regulators to force Amazon.com to live up to its privacy promises. Junkbusters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) argue that the e-tail giant isn't doing enough to protect the privacy of its customers and must allow customers to viewand delete their personal records. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-961136.html http://news.com.com/2100-1017-961136.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/818648.asp - - - - - - - - University to study combating cyberterror The Defense Department is giving Carnegie Mellon University $35.5 million to develop tools and tactics for fighting cyberterrorism. The inventions to be researched and engineered at the top computer science school would serve equally well in battling hackers and Internet crooks. "These problems have always existed. Terrorism only increased the visibility of these problems," said Pradeep Khosla, who headsthe university's electrical and computer engineering department and directs the new Center for Computer and Communications Security. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/566941p-4455925c.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-10-08-pentagon-cyberterror_x.htm - - - - - - - - NIST-NSA team readies systems security guidance The National Information Assurance Partnership in the next month will release two draft guides to create standards for systems security certification and accreditation and for minimum security controls for IT. NIAP is a collaboration between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Security Agency. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/20220-1.html - - - - - - - - Spam giving e-mail a bad name Consumers are increasingly applying the stigma of spam to marketing messages of all stripes, causing headaches for legitimate advertisers on the Web and beyond. For some people, pop-up ads, poorly edited "opt-in" marketing lists and search engine manipulation might just as well be lumped together with the junk e-mail scourge. Add to that aggressive marketing pitches over fax machines, cell phones and personal digital assistants, and the list of offenses that deserve the spam handle is seemingly endless. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-961134.html http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961134.html Spam Blocker Has Opposite Effect http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,55613,00.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft mulls security fees Microsoft "may offer new security abilities on a paid basis," according to the company's chief technical officer Craig Mundie. The possibility is under consideration within Microsoft's security business unit, recently set up under its own vice president, Mike Nash. The idea is still only hypothetical, but represents an acknowledgement that Microsoft sees security not just as a necessary condition to reassure existing and future customers, but also as a potential source of revenue. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-961173.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2123526,00.html Microsoft marries RSA Security to Windows http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/27499.html - - - - - - - - Stanford puts Net policies to the test Stanford Law School is launching a new e-commerce center that will focus on policy and legal issues that affect online businesses. The new Center for E-Commerce, announced Tuesday, will be an inter- disciplinary project that will try to help lawyers, business people and the general public shape policy and grapple with legal questions presented by the Internet. The center will host conferences and speaking engagements where people can hash out issues including Internet jurisdiction, intellectual property and the legal fallout of the dot-com bust. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961244.html - - - - - - - - Glitterati vs. Geeks Two heavyweights, Hollywood and Silicon Valley, take the fight over content to the Supremes. Larry Lessig admits it: hes nervous. Who wouldnt be? This week the brainy Stanford law professor makes his first appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court barely a decade after clerking for Justice Antonin Scaliato argue a case that could redirect millions of dollars, rejigger the entertainment menu of the entire nation and liberate Mickey Mouse. http://www.msnbc.com/news/817175.asp http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27475.html - - - - - - - - Report: Wi-Fi Networks Too Risky Starbucks customers who like surfing the Net wirelessly as they sip lattes might be surprised to hear that the federal government considers the practice dangerous. In a recently released report, the government asked federal agencies to exercise extra caution when using a wireless local area network LAN) for Internet access. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55556,00.html - - - - - - - - Online bullies give grief to gamers, companies When Kurt Frerichs comes home from a long day of fixing computers, he likes to eat dinner with his family, tuck his 2-year-old daughter into bed and settle in front of his PC with a steaming cup of black coffee to inflict nonstop misery on his fellow man. The 25- year-old technology consultant relishes the indiscriminate slaughter of other players in online games, heaping scorn on his victims and exploiting programming bugs to his advantage. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/566645p-4454461c.html - - - - - - - - Computer profiler aids in sniper hunt Software is leading the way for investigators trying to pinpoint a Washington-area sniper. Geographic profiling, developed by former Vancouver, British Columbia, police detective Kim Rossmo, tries to zero in on the suspect by using computers to track the mass of data flooding investigators' desks -- location, dates and times of crimes. The program then matches the information with what criminologists know about human nature. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/biztech/10/08/profiling.tech/index.html - - - - - - - - Researchers say Internet encourages voyeurism Word to women: If you are in the state of Washington, wear pants. Two Washington men who were convicted of violating the state's voyeurism statute for secretly taking pictures up the skirts of women and little girls successfully challenged the law in early September. The use of what has been called "upskirt cams" and "upskirt voyeur photography" is "reprehensible" and "disgusting," the state Supreme Court ascertained, but secretly taking photos up women's skirts in public. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/566687p-4454670c.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.