October 22, 2002 Attack intended to cripple Internet fails, experts say The core servers that direct e-mail and Web surfers to their desired destinations around the world were attacked Monday in an apparently coordinated attempt to cripple the Internet, experts said Tuesday. The attack, which largely failed, was launched around 5 p.m. EDT/9 p.m. GMT Monday on the 13 root servers that make up Internet's Domain Name System and lasted about an hour, said Paul Vixie, chairman of Redwood City, California-based Internet Software Consortium Inc., which operates one of the root servers. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4344591.htm http://online.securityfocus.com/news/1400 http://news.com.com/2100-1001-963005.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A828-2002Oct22.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/824620.asp http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/587543p-4574392c.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27731.html - - - - - - - - Man sentenced to 60 years for child pornography The first South Dakota man nabbed in a nationwide crackdown on child pornography has been sentenced to 60 years in prison. Mathew Lee Mierkey, 36, of Sioux Falls, pleaded guilty to 30 counts of possession of child pornography and Monday became the first defendant in the case to be sentenced. The maximum sentence is two years in prison and a $2,000 per-count fine. Chief Deputy Attorney General Larry Long, who prosecuted the case in Minnehaha County, said Mierkey had 30 photographs on his computer of children younger than 10 engaged in sexual activity. http://www.argusleader.com/news/Tuesdayarticle6.shtml - - - - - - - - UK ISPs balk at giving customer data to police The Internet industry dealt a blow to Britain's tough anti-terrorism legislation on Tuesday by refusing to reveal personal cyber-data to police. It has turned down a request from Home Secretary David Blunkett to allow police and intelligence officers to access the personal records of their customers on request without the approval of a judge. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105-962950.html - - - - - - - - America Online launches kids' safety campaign America Online is launching a new Internet- safety campaign for kids built around an automated instant-messaging "buddy" that dispenses advice in real time. Kids can add "AOLSafetyBot" to their buddy lists of friends on AOL Instant Messenger. It's programmed to answer, within seconds, such questions as whether kids should agree to physical meetings with online acquaintances or reveal such personal information as their address and age. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2002-10-22-aol-safety_x.htm - - - - - - - - Web of deceit Whos sending you all those scam Nigerian e-mails? Perhaps you heard from Daniel A. Oluwa over the past few days. Hes a member of Nigerias Federal Audit Committee. He dropped you an e-mail, labeled Strictly Confidential, stating that hes discovered a frozen account containing $42.5 million. Mr. Oluwa wants to snag the loot, but, for unfathomable reasons, he needs a foreign-based partner to act as an intermediary. Interested? Merely send along your bank name, address, account number, swift code, ABA number (if any), beneficiary of account, telephone and fax numbers of bank. Thirty percent of the booty shall eventually be yours. http://www.msnbc.com/news/824336.asp - - - - - - - - Web Vandalism on the Rise Web vandalism is on the rise around the world, underscoring the shoddy state of affairs in IT security, according to the owner of a Web site that tracks such information. In the past two weeks, Zone-H.org proprietor Roberto Preatoni said defacements have increased to more than 500 separate attacks a day and more than 1,500 over weekends. A year ago, he said, his site got around 30 to 50 defacement notices a day from hackers. http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/1485601 - - - - - - - - U.K. Retailers Receive the Most Viruses by E-Mail In the United Kingdom, the virus per incoming e-mail ratio for the retail industry during 2002 has been one virus per 24 e-mails. This is hugely disparate with the leisure industry (1:58), the sports and entertainment sector (1:68) and the city and local government sector (1:104). The best ratio of virus/ e-mails was found in the U.K.'s banking and finance industry with one virus per every 5,208 e-mails. http://www.idg.net/ic_958436_5055_1-2793.html - - - - - - - - Spam So Bad the Spammers Balk The deluge of unsolicited e-mail, or spam, has become such a scourge that even the world's leading consumer marketing lobby says the time has come for federal restrictions. The Direct Marketing Association, which once opposed any federal anti-spam legislation, says it will now lobby for federal and state laws that aim to control the growth of million-message batches of e-mails flogging everything from raunchy sex videos to carpet cleaning. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55951,00.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/587228p-4572677c.html - - - - - - - - IE flaws leave systems vulnerable An Israeli Web-application company has warned users of Internet Explorer that nine related security flaws in the program could be used by malicious hackers to gain access to a victim's computer files. GreyMagic Software said Tuesday that the vulnerabilities--eight of which it deemed critical--could be exploited using a specially coded Web page that would run malicious programs on a victim's computer if the victim visited the page. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-962966.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-962966.html - - - - - - - - Baltimore packages up PKI In an attempt to widen the appeal of PKI - and make it easier for customers to understand - Baltimore is packaging its public key infrastructure technology into business suites. Troubled security software firm Baltimore is hoping to kick start the public Key infrastructure (PKI) market by making the technology more accessible with a suite of products. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2124285,00.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-962945.html - - - - - - - - PGP reborn makes its pitch for the mainstream Encryption products need to become as easy and transparent to use as AV software packages. That's the goal of Phil Dunkelberger, President and CEO of PGP Corporation, who's over in London this week for the European launch of the newly- formed company. PGP Corporation was created to market PGP Desktop and Wireless encryption products bought from Network Associates back in August. The deal ended month of speculation over the future of the technology following Network Associates' decision to mothball it back in March. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/27729.html - - - - - - - - Agency adds do-it-yourself security Instead of using the state government's virtual private network solution to serve its far-flung workforce, the Washington State Human Rights Commission opted for a private approach that was less expensive and easier for its employees to install. The commission went live this spring with a product Imperito Networks Inc.'s SafeSecure Access that enables people with little technical experience to install software for access to agency systems. http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2002/1021/web-vpn-10-22-02.asp - - - - - - - - Could a Worm Take Over the Net in Minutes? Researchers are warning of dangerous new worms that would be almost impossible to stop, but not everyone is convinced. Computer science researchers are predicting new types of dangerous worms that would be able to infect Web servers, browsers, and other software so quickly that the working Internet itself could be taken over in a matter of minutes. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,106187,00.asp - - - - - - - - Customs planning classified net The U.S. Customs Service is looking for vendors with security clearances to build a classified network for sensitive law enforcement data. Customs is expected to issue a draft proposal Oct. 25 that will be available only to vendors that already have certified they have a top-secret facility security clearance and personnel holding valid security clearances. S.W. "Woody" Hall, the chief information officer at Customs, described the project as a "classified network allowing agents to move information around that we don't want anyone to get hold of." http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1021/web-customs-10-22-02.asp - - - - - - - - DOJ touches "smart" gun control The U.S. Justice Department is turning to technology to help guns recognize whose finger is on the trigger. The National Institute of Justice, the research and development arm of the Justice Department, is teaming up with Metal Storm, an electronic gun maker, to study how a firearm could be designed to determine whether the person wielding it should be allowed to fire it. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-962895.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2124288,00.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-962895.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.