NewsBits for April 18, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Woman charged in pyramid scheme that shut down Net service A Bigfork woman faces a misdemeanor count of unlawful use of a computer after she allegedly initiated an Internet attack that flooded a local Internet provider and forced it to shut down. Jacqueline Briguccia-Isley, 39, caused the e-mail flood when she downloaded a program and sent an e-mail version of a fraudulent pyramid scheme to customers at the Montana Sky Internet company, said Sgt. Brian Fulford, a Kalispell Police detective. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2003-04-18-pyramid-scheme_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Former Boston College student gets probation in hacking case A former Boston College student accused of using special software to collect personal data on thousands of fellow students, staff and faculty was sentenced to five years of probation. Douglas Boudreau, 22, of Warwick, R.I., pleaded guilty Thursday to interception of wire communications, unauthorized access to a computer system, larceny, identity fraud and other charges. After collecting the personal information, Boudreau reconfigured his own campus ID card to make purchases and illegally enter school buildings, Attorney General Tom Reilly said. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/859186p-6009876c.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/04/18/student.hacker.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Fake bank site part of Nigerian scam Well-known Internet con gets more elaborate. Theyre certainly persistent. Another flavor of the well-known Nigerian scam has popped up, this one even more elaborate than the familiar e-mail solicitation. The scam appears to target former recipients who were initially drawn in by an e-mail offer, but abandoned the scheme half-way through. To ease potential victims fears, scam artists have set up a fake online bank, and even deposited funds into a bogus account there. One pair of victims has reportedly lost $100,000 to such a fake bank scam. And now, thanks to a private citizen who did a little sleuthing of his own, heres a chance to see it in action. http://www.msnbc.com/news/900824.asp - - - - - - - - - - Local Teacher Arrested On Child Porn Charges The Sterling Heights Police Department computer crimes unit arrested a local teacher on child pornography charges Thursday afternoon. Gerald Alan Archutowski, 44, a teacher in the Anchor Bay School District, was taken into custody following an Internet sting involving authorities in New Hampshire. Police say Archutowski sent child pornography to undercover officers from the New Hampshire computer crimes unit. During a search of his Sterling Heights residence, detectives seized computer equipment, which led to additional charges of possession of child pornography, police said. Detectives suspect Archutowski had chat room interaction with various teens, using the Yahoo screen name of "JerryTrot." http://www.clickondetroit.com/det/news/stories/news-212293220030418-150459.html - - - - - - - - - - Aurora Man Busted In Internet Sex Case A 36-year-old Aurora, Colo., man is under arrest after investigators said he tried to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex. Thomas C. Bennett, was arrested Thursday evening by detectives from the Littleton Police Dept. and Douglas County Sheriff's Office who were working as part of a Internet Crimes Against Children task force. Investigators said the arrest stemmed from an attempt by Bennett to meet a young girl over the Internet, for sex. An undercover investigator posed as the teen girl who agreed to meet Bennett at an undisclosed location in Littleton, according to the investigators. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2122590/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Purdue plans to discipline 8 for child porn Eight male students at Purdue University in West Lafayette will be suspended or put on probation for downloading child pornography over the school's computer network. But Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Jerry Bean said Thursday that they will not face criminal charges. "We have reviewed the reports and determined that no charges will be filed," said Bean. "That's all I'm going to say." Purdue police began investigating 17 students in early March after receiving a tip that they had been downloading pornography from the Internet. Police got a search warrant to look through the students' residence hall rooms and seized computers and related equipment March 4. http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/3/036721-8513-093.html - - - - - - - - - - FTC Targets 'Deceptive' Porn Spam The Federal Trade Commission is taking an Internet spam operation to court, alleging that it flooded e-mail accounts with pornographic material disguised behind bland subject lines like "new movie info" and "wanna hear a joke?" After receiving about 46,000 complaints in the last nine months, the agency asked a federal court in Illinois to shut down the operation, FTC lawyer Steven Wernikoff said Thursday. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-04-18-ftc-spam_x.htm http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-spam18apr18,1,3134207.story http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/859079p-6009194c.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/901652.asp - - - - - - - - - - Madonna trips pirates with decoys The Madonna camp is looking to clamp down on online peer-to-peer piracy of her new Maverick album, "American Life," by flooding file-sharing networks with decoy files. Those who download tracks from such services as KaZaA are greeted by the voice of Madonna asking, "What the f+++ do you think you're doing?" The new album is due April 22; the title track is No. 37 this week on the Billboard Hot 100. Madonna is no stranger to pre-release piracy. In the lead-up to her 2000 set "Music," unfinished portions of the title cut flooded such services as Napster. No advances were sent to journalists for "American Life"; instead, in what has become a common practice, writers were asked to listen to the record at the office of Madonna's publicist. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105-997471.html - - - - - - - - - - Hollywood alters movies to foil camcorder pirates Hollywood sends enforcers with night-vision goggles into movie theaters and puts metal detectors outside advance screening rooms, but still the industry can't stop pirates from recording films and selling illegal copies before their theatrical debuts. The problem is that the pirates are adopting ever more sophisticated technology, using tiny camcorders in purses and digital recorders about the size of a fountain pen. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-04-17-hollywood-piracy_x.htm http://www.nbc4.tv/technology/2120073/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - WA lawmakers pass bill banning sale of violent video games Washington state is on the verge of approving a law that will fine retailers $500 if they sell children video games that depict violence against police. The measure was sponsored by state Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, a longtime critic of violent video games. Although the bill applies only to violence against police officers, it would effectively keep many of the market's violent games away from children, Dickerson said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/5666096.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/859617p-6012267c.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-04-18-violent-games_x.htm http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58535,00.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/902023.asp http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48121-2003Apr17.html - - - - - - - - - - President's Top IT Security Adviser To Resign White House cybersecurity adviser Howard Schmidt will resign from his post at the end of the month, raising concerns about the Bush administration's commitment to implementing its strategy for protecting the nation's critical information infrastructure. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52162-2003Apr18.html - - - - - - - - - - Law professor will head university's cybersecurity center An Indiana University law professor has been tapped to oversee a new IU center that will research computer and Internet security issues. Fred Cate will be the inaugural director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, which will promote research and collaboration on computer security. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-04-18-cybersecurity-center_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - CyberStalking Is Increasing Cyberstalking -- stalking individuals via the Internet is increasing across America according to a study released Thursday by Wired Safety, an online safety and help group. While women remain the most likely targets of cyberstalkers, the study found that female cyberstalkers are also increasing in number. In addition, growing numbers of children are cyberstalking other children, while members of certain ethnic groups, especially those from the Middle East, are increasingly targeted. http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2193131 - - - - - - - - - - Organised crime on the internet: hidden dangers Management perceives major threats from viruses and teenage hackers. But bigger threats come from organised crime involving fraud and commercial espionage, argues David Love, former head of security at NATO and current Head of Security Strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Computer Associates. http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=organisedcrimeont1050497394&area=news - - - - - - - - - - Planning for the Next Cyberwar Buoyed by its decisive win in Iraq, the Pentagon is betting billions that the information technology system that helped defeat Saddam Hussein will evolve into a more potent weapon than cluster bombs and howitzers. Department of Defense futurists call it network-centric warfare. Other military strategists simply refer to it as the digital war. The first Gulf War was analog, they say. This one was digital. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58422,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Science agency seeks place at 'cutting edge' of data mining The National Science Foundation funds research "right at the cutting edge of discovery," Director Rita Colwell said in a recent interview. So it is only fitting that the foundation announced on Friday that it is funding eight projects that go beyond the technologies currently being developed to mine large amounts of data. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0403/041803td1.htm http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/report/0,11188,04142003,00.html FBI begins knowledge management facelift http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/datamining/story/0,10801,80472,00.html - - - - - - - - - - CERT Warns of Snort Vulnerabilities Security researchers have found multiple security vulnerabilities in the open-source Snort network intrusion detection system, warning that older versions are wide open to code execution and denial-of-service attacks. Snort, which is used primarily to perform real-time traffic analysis and packet logging on IP networks, has been upgraded to version 2.0 to fix the holes. http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/2192861 - - - - - - - - - - Getting realistic in the war on hackers Opinion Give up on the notion that computer security can be improved by putting more people in prison, argues Jon Lasser, SecurityFocus columnist. The war on hackers is failing for the same reason the war on drugs failed: Most individuals can control themselves, but there is a substantial group of people for whom no legal penalties will be enough to discourage their behavior. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/30332.html - - - - - - - - - - Do hackers have a role in corporate security? Would you have a hacker convicted of a cybercrime watching your corporate network? A panel discussion at the RSA Conference on the role of hackers in security tried to answer that question, but the debate on Wednesday turned into a verbal boxing match, reflecting the deep divide between those who believe that convicted cybercriminals shouldn't have a role in security and those who believe that they should. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2133626,00.html Security confab focuses on trust, tools http://news.com.com/2009-1009-996732.html - - - - - - - - - - The paradox of privacy Recently, I was the victim of an electronic privacy attack. After I wrote an article skeptical of a new strategy at a desktop company, someone retaliated by posting my personal information to a discussion Web site. The data included--among other information my phone number, every address I've had in the past 18 years, clues about my social security number, and the value of my house. http://news.com.com/2010-1071-997381.html - - - - - - - - - - Frequent Fliers Fear Privacy Loss Frequent fliers might forfeit more than future flights on their favored carrier if any of the country's beleaguered airlines go out of business. They could also lose control over their personal information. The airline industry has been reeling from business losses related to the Iraq war, the slowdown in the economy, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the recent SARS outbreak. Both United Airlines and Hawaiian airlines are operating under bankruptcy protection, while American Airlines narrowly avoided having to file for bankruptcy this week by securing $1.8 billion in labor concessions. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,58470,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Lab rolls out high-tech radiation detectors A cell phone that will be able to tell the difference between a "dirty bomb" and someone who's undergone radiation treatment is among the next generation of anti-terrorism tools being worked on by national weapons lab scientists. The device, known as RadNet, is designed to make calls, surf the Web, act as a Personal Digital Assistant, pinpoint locations with Global Positioning System technology and sniff out radioactive materials with a cutting-edge sensor. It is one of several national security projects under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-04-18-security-tools_x.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/859537p-6011897c.html *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. An intense, 150 hour, instructor lead program that teaches you computer forensics and helps prepare you for the Certified Computer Examiner exam. For more information see; www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu *********************************************************** 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. 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