January 29, 2003 Experts, FBI: Hunt difficult for source of Internet damage Leading experts on Internet security are skeptical that the FBI and other investigators will be able to track down whoever was responsible for last weekend's attack on the Internet. These experts, including many who provide technical advice to the FBI and other U.S. agencies, said exhaustive reviews of the blueprints for the attacking software are yielding few clues to its origin or the author's identity. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/5053136.htm http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/01/29/internet.attack.ap/index.html http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57462,00.html Internet Worm Unearths New Holes http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57550-2003Jan28.html The worm that turned: A new approach to hacker hunting http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0103/012903worm.htm Better patch management could have slowed Slammer http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21016-1.html - - - - - - - - Agent shows jurors classified material obtained by spy suspect A former Air Force investigator demonstrated for jurors Wednesday how prosecutors say spy suspect Brian Patrick Regan obtained classified satellite photos of missile sites in Iraq and China. Using a laptop computer, Bret Padres, a former military computer expert, showed how he said Regan used the search capabilities of the classified National Imagery Mapping Agency to look for satellite photos of Iraq and China. Padres said all searches on the classified Internet system are logged and he was able to obtain a record of every instance Regan used the system to find classified information. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/2185 - - - - - - - - Child porn case leads to Penn State student Investigators expect next week to arrest a 19-year-old Penn State University student for downloading child pornography through his university e-mail account. The arrest will follow the seizure yesterday of the unidentified student's computer from his off-campus apartment -- a computer that contains "hundreds of pieces of child pornography, state police said. State Trooper Robert Erdely, a state police computer expert, said today that groundwork for the case was laid in November with the arrest of a 19-year-old University of North Texas student charged with using a computer there as a repository for child pornography. That computer acted as a file server -- offering child pornography to computer users who linked into it and downloading files from people who had pornographic photos to offer, Erdely said. http://www.post-gazette.com/breaking/20030128psuporn0128webp6.asp - - - - - - - - Customs officer admitted downloading child porn A CUSTOMS officer found guilty of downloading 1,481 indecent images of children from the internet was given a two-year rehabilitation order. Michael Court, aged 35, of Orpington High Street, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography at Croydon Crown Court, on January 24, and was warned by the judge if he broke the terms of the order, he would almost certainly face prison. http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/bromley/display.var.690056.index.customs_officer_admitted_downloading_child_porn.html - - - - - - - - Man faces teen porn charges A Pleasant Street man faces more than 20 counts of child pornography charges stemming from an investigation in which police say the 61-year-old sent sexually explicit pictures of teenagers over the Internet to an undercover Florida detective. According to police, Parker Boschen, of 41 Pleasant St., talked with a detective from the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office in Florida in a chat room provided by America Online on Jan. 18. Boschen then allegedly e-mailed sexual photos and video clips of children as young as about 13 to the detective, who was posing as an adult male, according to Bellingham Police Lt. Kevin Ranieri. http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/bell_pornarrest01282003.htm - - - - - - - - Man pleads no contest in Internet sex case A Battle Creek man charged with sexually assaulting a girl he met on the Internet won't spent more than a year in jail after entering a plea in the case. Charles A. Loe, 24, pleaded no contest late Friday to a charge of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, Calhoun County Circuit Court officials said Monday. As part of a plea agreement, his sentence will be no more than a year in the county jail and probation. The felony charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/news/stories/20030128/localnews/863355.html - - - - - - - - Keeping Internet predators at bay Christina Long's life was full of promise. The popular 13-year-old from Connecticut was an honor student and cheerleader. But it seems Christina had a troubling, secretive side. She was meeting strangers over the Internet. Last May, Christina was strangled to death, and police believe she met her killer online. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2003-01-29-baig-safety_x.htm - - - - - - - - Internet cafe chain to appeal copyright ruling The head of an Internet cafe chain pledged Wednesday to appeal a judge's ruling that the company broke copyright law by letting customers copy music from the Internet. Greek entrepreneur Stelio Haji-Ioannou said Tuesday's court decision against his easyInternetcafe chain had failed to consider that recordings for private and domestic use were exempt from Britain's 1988 Copyright,Designs and Patents Act. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/5057985.htm http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57463,00.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-01-29-net-cafe_x.htm - - - - - - - - MPs reject data retention plans Unworkable, unhelpful and possibly unlawful, says all-party enquiry. Government plans to force Internet Service Providers (ISP) to retain communications traffic data have been condemned by the All Party Internet Group, which described the plans as damaging, potentially unlawful and unhelpful in the fight against crime. Following its public enquiry into government data retention plans, the Group attacked government plans, saying it was not "practical to retain all communications data on the off chance that it will be useful on day". http://www.vnunet.com/News/1138326 - - - - - - - - Snooping warrants double under Labour Communications surveillance reaches unprecedented level. The UK has become a snooper's paradise since the Labour government came to power. According to The Guardian, the interception of phone calls, email and post by police and the intelligence services has more than doubled since Tony Blair was elected. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1138340 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29097.html - - - - - - - - Security worries hold back UK online tax returns Security and usability concerns are holding back Brits from filling their tax returns online. That's the main conclusion of a survey into public attitudes to government e-services, commissioned by firewall vendor Check Point. It found that only seven per cent of 200 people polled intended to complete their tax return online. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29091.html - - - - - - - - Security clearinghouse under the gun A group widely used by security companies as a clearinghouse for newly discovered software vulnerabilities has raised the ire of a well- known researcher, who criticized its policy of disclosing information early to preferred members. In an e-mail released to a public security mailing list this week, David Litchfield took to task the nonprofit Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Litchfield, managing director of U.K.-based computer security company NGS Software, is now best known as the discoverer of the Microsoft SQL flaw used by the Slammer worm to ravage corporate networks last weekend. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-982663.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2003-01-29-researcher-worm_x.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/741030p-5387865c.html - - - - - - - - Georgia improves portal, security As Georgia's state government moves toward connecting all its agencies to a new portal, it also is strengthening network security across the board. In recent weeks, the state announced two new initiatives. http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2003/0127/web-georgia-01-29-03.asp - - - - - - - - MPEG-4 consortium keys on security A streaming-media consortium set a schedule this week for finalizing technical specs for MPEG-4 security and rights management-- components that are key to the open standard's adoption among content owners. The Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA)--a global group of companies including Apple Computer, Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems--formulated steps to advance MPEG-4 into its final stages. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-982467.html - - - - - - - - Firewall Geeks Meet the Night Watchmen An increasing number of companies now wrap together physical access and network access into the same identification and authentication systems, such as digital smart cards. As the information-technology director for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jon Koskey keeps a close eye on computer security at the venerable Brickyard, home to the Indy 500. His three-person staff monitors 450 networked devices, including servers, desktops, and printers . http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20606.html - - - - - - - - Bush proposes antiterror database plan A forthcoming government database will compile information from all federal agencies and the private sector on people deemed possible terrorist threats, President Bush said Tuesday evening. Bush used his State of the Union address to announce the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), a mammoth data-collection project intended to fuse information collected domestically by police and internationally by spy agencies. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-982640.html http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21012-1.html http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0127/web-bush-01-28-03.asp - - - - - - - - SAP wants piece of homeland security pie Joining a throng of rivals, SAP has launched a new initiative aimed at carving out a slice of the growing U.S. federal budget for information technology. Targeting the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the software company said Wednesday that it is working to develop software designed to assist governments in border security, emergency response and intelligence gathering. SAP is best known for its line of accounting, human resources and manufacturing applications, which are used by thousands of companies to streamline their businesses. http://news.com.com/2100-1017-982643.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. 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