December 5, 2002 New Lagal worm deletes files Antivirus companies are warning of a damaging new e-mail worm, which, when activated, deletes all files on drives labelled D, E, F and G. The new worm is not widespread yet, with e-mail screening firm MessageLabs, who call the worm W32/SfxDeth.A-MM. The worm, dubbed W32/Lagel.A by antivirus company Panda Software, arrives in an e-mail titled "Fwd: Crazy Illegal Sex" with an attachment called IlleGal.exe. If the file is executed, the worm creates four new files on the computer and runs a series of graphics implying the e-mail was simply a joke. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-976187.html - - - - - - - - Pair indicted in trade-secret theft A federal grand jury in the US has indicted two men on criminal charges of stealing trade secrets from major computer technology companies. A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted two men on criminal charges of stealing trade secrets from Sun, Transmeta and other companies in order to make and sell processors based on the technology in China. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127103,00.html http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-rup5.1dec05,0,2955928.story http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4673540.htm - - - - - - - - Swedish court releases two Ericsson spy suspects A Swedish court released two suspects Thursday in an espionage investigation involving wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson, but ordered the main suspect kept in jail. The Stockholm district court said all three remained suspects in the investigation, which has focused on secret company information being passed to a foreign intelligence agent. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4672303.htm - - - - - - - - Tower Records site exposes data A security hole on Tower Records' Web site exposed data on millions of U.S. and U.K. customers until it was closed late Wednesday. The glitch allowed anyone to peruse Tower Records' Web site to view its database of customer orders dating from 1996 through this week, including home and e-mail addresses, phone numbers and what music or video products were purchased. More than 3 million such records were exposed. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-976271.html - - - - - - - - Start-up founder sentenced for fraud A con artist who cheated hundreds of area investors out of $3.7 million has been sentenced to 11 years in state prison and ordered to pay more than $6.7 million in fines and restitution. Steven A. Ristau, 44, founder of San Jose start-up PacketSwitch.com, was found guilty of securities fraud, selling unqualified securities and three felony counts of tax evasion, filing false state tax returns and failing to file a tax return. Ristau's four-week jury trial was in October. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4667842.htm - - - - - - - - Government rests case against Russian software company Federal prosecutors rested their case Thursday against a Russian company accused of selling a computer program that allowed users to circumvent the security of Adobe Systems' electronic book software. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/4667083.htm Russian firm's software dubbed 'major problem' in copyright trial http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2002-12-05-russian-trial_x.htm Government shows Sklyarov video in court http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976291.html Adobe: Few eBook copies found http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127073,00.html - - - - - - - - FatWallet.com fights back in WalMart DMCA action FatWallet, the bargain hunters' site that was forced to take down sale prices after several retailers claimed their publication was an infringement of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), has struck back, contesting the retailers' "frivolous copyright assertion" and demanding damages. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/28429.html - - - - - - - - Japan disconnects mobile phone scam The Japanese government has moved to outlaw a mobile phone scam which was fooling consumers into dialling extortionately priced premium rate numbers. The scam involves the use of computers to dial as many as 3,000 mobile handsets per minute--only to hang up after just one ring. The conmen are then just relying on a small percentage of curious phone users, who see they have a missed call, to ring the number on their phone. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105-976224.html - - - - - - - - Congress Votes to Ban Violent Video Games Honduras' Congress voted unanimously to ban the sale of violent video games, the country's latest effort to halt crime and lawlessness. The president is expected to sign it into law. Banned will be Mortal Kombat, Doom, Resident Evil, Turck, the House of the Dead, Duke Nukem, Shadowman, Quake, Instinct Killer, the Legacy of Kain, Street Fighter and Perfect Dark. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fg-briefs5.1dec05,0,3112321.story - - - - - - - - Messages to al-Qaida Called Fake Hundreds of messages posted to Internet discussion groups last week, apparently with encrypted instructions for al-Qaida terrorists, are an obvious hoax, experts said. The newsgroup postings, which included the words "next al-Qaida attack" in their subject lines, alarmed some Internet users when the messages began showing up in discussion groups around Nov. 25. "Could this be the forerunner of an Internet attack? Maybe the authorities (Homeland Security, etc.) should be called in on this?" asked one Earthlink user on Nov. 26 in a Jewish culture newsgroup. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56715,00.html - - - - - - - - SJ Police awarded grant to fight Internet crimes against children Rep. Zoe Lofgren on Wednesday announced a $300,000 grant that will be awarded to the San Jose Police Department's Child Exploitation Detail. The funding will be used to help in the investigation of Internet crimes against children. It will go toward the purchase of equipment for the unit and will fund a new forensic computer technician to assist in child exploitation investigations. http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/4670825.htm - - - - - - - - UK still vulnerable to hackers Dramatic fall in recorded attacks played down by experts. Security experts have rejected claims of a dramatic reduction in hack attacks on the UK last month, maintaining that UK websites are no more secure than others. Security analyst Mi2G claimed that recorded digital attacks on the UK fell by 70 per cent during November, compared with an eight per cent decline worldwide. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1137366 - - - - - - - - Klez worst virus of 2002 The Klez worm has been named the most prolific virus of the year, accounting for almost a quarter of all reports to anti-virus vendor Sophos. The all-conquering Klez did the majority of its leg work over the summer, when it enjoyed a seven month-long unbroken spell at the top of the virus charts between March and October. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105-976221.html - - - - - - - - Users still the weakest link It's staff that let the viruses in, say experts. End-users are still the main cause of virus infections in the workplace, as they continue to open suspicious email attachments and use online file-sharing and instant messenging services, according to experts. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1137373 - - - - - - - - Ofcom won't ban spam An MP has called for action against the rise of pornographic email, but Ofcom looks set to keep well away from Internet regulation. An attempt to force Ofcom, the new regulator for Britain's telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, to take action on pornographic spam is likely to be unsuccessful. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2127093,00.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft warns of IE, Outlook flaws Microsoft late Wednesday warned of new security glitches in some of its Internet software that could expose sensitive data. The Redmond, Wash., company said a glitch could allow hackers to pilfer information from computers running versions of its Internet Explorer Web browser. The Internet Explorer security hole affects versions 5.5 and 6 for Windows. IE 5.01 is not affected by the glitch. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-976206.html - - - - - - - - ICANN urged to scrutinize domain claims The standards body for Internet domain names should ratchet up efforts to ensure the accuracy of domain-name owner data and eliminate bulk marketing that uses domain- name information, according to recommendations of an Internet task force. The recommendations of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) task force stemmed from discussions over Whois, a database for the .com, .net and .org domains that contains contact information of people who register Web sites. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-976278.html - - - - - - - - Biometrics to imprint job site Forget about traditional reference checking. New technology has a growing number of companies checking out their employees' fingerprints instead and raising privacy concerns in the process. The technology is showing up at job fairs as companies turn to fingerprint technology to verify that applicants have no criminal records. Other employers use the technology as a newfangled time clock: Workers punch in and out using fingerprint scans instead of timecards. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2002-12-04-fingerprint_x.htm - - - - - - - - DoD to influence tech industry to develop systems Retired Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski, head of the Defense Department's office for modernizing the military, said on Thursday that he will seek to influence commercial technology development at the earliest stages to encourage more appropriate military technologies. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1202/120502td1.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.