NewsBits for August 14, 2003 sponsored by,
Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu
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Federal security organizations repel Blaster worm
Despite the rapid spread of the Blaster worm this week,
it apparently had little or no effect on government agency
operations here and around the country. Although analysts
said the worm might have cost the private sector several
hundred million dollars in repairs and downtime, federal
officials credited their ability to stop the worm to a
solid security process -- bolstered by a determination
to rid systems of the vulnerability long before it could
be exploited.
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,83991,00.html
Worm pushes Microsoft to change default Windows security
Microsoft said Wednesday that it planned to change
the way it distributes its flagship Windows XP
operating system software, in response to a ``worm''
that has spread over the Internet in recent days
attacking tens of thousands of personal computers
by exploiting vulnerabilities in Windows. Dissemination
of the worm, a virus-like program, slowed Wednesday
as network administrators and individual computer
users around the world took steps to protect their
machines, even as Microsoft's critics stepped up
their complaints that the company's industry-dominant
software puts its customers at risk of such outbreaks.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/6532746.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58744-2003Aug14.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57475-2003Aug14.html
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22092.html
Internet worm confounds home users
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/14/blaster.worm.reut/index.html
Making a profit off a PC worm
http://www.msnbc.com/news/952347.asp?0si=-&cp1=1
Power Outage Not Internet Worm-Related
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59893-2003Aug14.html
Microsoft, Your PC's Security Guard?
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2003/tc20030814_6379_tc047.htm
The Bright Side of Blaster
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6728
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54937-2003Aug13.html
Blaster virus inquiries mount in Japan
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1212&e=4&u=/afp/20030814/tc_afp/internet_virus_japan&sid=96001018
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39115709,00.htm
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,60029,00.html
Wiping out the web worm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3151439.stm
Internet worm on the wane: FBI
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1209&e=1&u=/afp/20030814/tc_afp/internet_us_virus&sid=96001015
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/14/BU289089.DTL&type=tech
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56071-2003Aug13.html
New worm blasts Microsoft (series of stories)
http://zdnet.com.com/2251-1110-5062637.html
Cleanup dampens Blaster worm
http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-5063948.html
Blaster worm variants make mischief
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/32326.html
Microsoft patch process called into question
http://computerworld.com/printthis/2003/0,4814,83989,00.html
Blaster rewrites Windows worm rules
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/32327.html
Blaster threat extends to Cisco kit
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/32340.html
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Tenn. Mayor Convicted in Child Porn Case
A federal jury convicted a small-town mayor of possessing
and sending child pornography on the Internet after they
got a look at his e-mail records and his computer screen
name: "Young Wanting." Thomas, a grandfather, said afterward
that he would probably step down as mayor of Copperhill,
an eastern Tennessee town of 511 residents and the former
hub of a copper mining operation. The jury deliberated
less than two hours. The panel had stacks of government
evidence - hundreds of photos of nude children, some
showing children in sex acts with other children and
adults - that prosecutor Gary Humble said were copied
from records of the mayor's e-mail account.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030814/ap_on_re_us/mayor_pornography_1
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Graduate student accused of hacking expelled
The University of Michigan has expelled a graduate student
accused of hacking a computer system and using information
to forge e-mails and get copies of final exams, the state
attorney general's office said Wednesday. Ning Ma, 24,
a Chinese citizen on a student visa, was arrested last
month and accused of collecting information from more
than 60 students and professors.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/6530999.htm
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GNU Project Server Hacked by Intruder
The system housing the primary FTP servers for the
GNU Software Project has been compromised an intruder,
the Free Software Foundation (FSF) announced Thursday,
warning that a Trojan horse was also found. The GNU
Project, which is a clearing house for a variety
of freely available open-source software, was root
compromised sometime in July 2003 but the FSF did
not discover the intrusion until the end of the
month, according to executive director Bradley Kuhn.
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/2248811
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5063683.html
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22090.html
Breaches, battles in Linux arena (series of stories)
http://news.com.com/2009-1070_3-5063902.html
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HP recovers $1.8m in grey market fraud case
HP today announced it has recovered more than $1.8 million
as part of its civil lawsuit against S-Systems and its
owner, Leroy Anthony Sallee, over an alleged grey market
fraud. Sallee recently pleaded guilty to federal charges
for his participation in an alleged scheme to fraudulently
acquire computer equipment at substantial discounts and
then resell the products on the grey market - unofficial
channels, in other words. The defendant obtained more
than $5.7 million in computer equipment for only $3.1
million via misuse of a special educational discount,
HP says.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/51/32343.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1003_3-5063797.html
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Record haul as China raids pirates
In a logistical feat worthy of any Hollywood blockbuster,
a record 42 million smuggled and pirated DVDs and video
and audio CDs have been destroyed across China. All
of the discs destroyed had been confiscated during
crackdowns on smuggling cases, starting in 2001.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/08/12/china.copies/index.html
Studios help thwart DVD piracy ring
http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-5064197.html
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Fake bank email tries to con customers
In Australia, an email purporting to be from a bank
attempts to trick people into revealing their account
details. Another fraudulent email is doing the rounds,
this one attempting to trick people into providing
their Westpac bank account details. According to
Andrew Kent, the chief executive of SpamTrap, the
emails were sent out in the early hours of this
morning.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39115706,00.htm
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Court Rules Against 'Star Trek' Actress
A federal appeals court rejected a ``Star Trek''
actress' lawsuit against dating service Matchmaker.com,
ruling that a fake Internet profile posted with the star's
comely image was not the company's fault. The 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday the personal
profile information published on Matchmaker's service
is solely up to the user's discretion and the company
is immune from the lawsuit.Christianne Carafano, who
uses the stage name Chase Masterson, has appeared in
numerous films and television programs, most notably
starring as the alien character Leeta on the TV series
``Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.''Carafano sued Matchmaker
after learning that an online profile using her photos
had been created in 1999. The profile included her home
address, phone number and text stating she sought
a dominant man with ``a strong sexual appetite.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/6532683.htm
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Acxiom hack could force first interpretations of California law
A new California law could come into play for the first
time as the result of a hacker's intrusion into computer
files of Acxiom, according to the California Office
of Privacy Protection. The law requires any person
or company doing business with Californians and owning
or licensing computer data to tell customers when
unencrypted combinations of personal and sensitive
information have been illegally accessed. It went
into effect July 1, applying to when breaches are
discovered, not when the hacks occurred.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-08-14-acxiom-disclosure_x.htm
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U.S. attorneys' offices wide open to hackers, GAO says
A government report released Aug. 12 cites years of IT
security negligence at the U.S. Department of Justice
office responsible for the day-to-day support of the
nation's 93 U.S. attorneys' offices.
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,83993,00.html
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FBI shakes up security in wake of IG report on spy
As the Justice Departments inspector general
this morning issued a critical report on the FBIs
handling of bureau agent and Russian spy Robert
P. Hanssen, agency director Robert S. Mueller III
ordered security reforms that include sweeping
IT policy changes. Glenn A. Fine issued the report
on Hanssens damaging espionage, which spanned
November 1979 to February 2001. The members of
the IG investigative team generated 21 reform
recommendations.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/23132-1.html
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0811/web-fbi-08-14-03.asp
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Consumer Fights Subpoena Seeking File Sharers' Names
After serving Internet providers with more than 1,000
subpoenas demanding the names and addresses of people
who share copyrighted music online, the Recording
Industry Assn. of America has run into someone who
wants to fight for her anonymity. The woman is
a Verizon Internet Services customer accused of
offering copyrighted songs on a file-sharing network
for others to download free. The woman, who has hired
a lawyer to contest a subpoena, apparently is the
first to try to prevent her identity from being
disclosed to the record companies' trade association.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-music14aug14103416,1,4067715.story
Senator sets hearings on recording industry's piracy crackdown
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/6534355.htm
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/6729
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-08-14-piracy-hearings_x.htm
Refugee P2P outpost escapes authority
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5063402.html
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Richer surfers feel less secure
Survey shows wealthier US computer users are most
concerned about security. Almost one-third of internet
users in the US have fallen victim to a computer virus
or hackers in the past two years - and the richer the
surfer, the more vulnerable they feel. A survey of more
than 1,000 US web users, conducted by marketing services
firm Edelman, found that 43 per cent of Americans said
they felt less secure on their home computers, compared
with 17 per cent who felt less protected from viruses
and hackers at work.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1143000
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Info agency gets new No. 2
Army Maj. Gen. Marilyn Quagliotti will soon take over
the dual role of vice director at the Defense Information
Systems Agency and commander of the Defense Department's
Joint Task Force for Computer Network Operations,
Arlington, Va. The appointment was announced Wednesday
by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker. Quagliotti
will replace Army Maj. Gen. J. David Bryan, though
the exact transition date has yet to be determined,
according to a DISA spokesperson.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0811/web-disa-08-14-03.asp
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Teen Indian hacker spurns money for Stanford
An Indian teenage hacking expert who has helped global
think-tanks and police officials combat computer attackers
and digital swindlers is spurning job offers to pursue
a degree at the prestigious Stanford University. Ankit
Fadia, 18, who turned into a technology wonderkid after
authoring a book on hacking into computers two years
ago, told Reuters he preferred a five-year-scholarship
at California to lucrative consulting.
http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105_2-5063675.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/14/india.hacker.reut/index.html
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Why Computer Worms Never Die
Old computer worms are "an underestimated threat,"
says Security Response senior director Vincent Weafer.
"From our evidence, there is still a very high degree
of transmission. There's not a lot of attention, not
a lot of bulletins or awareness of existing threats."
Although Blaster and LovSan are the names crowding
today's headlines, security bulletins and virus
alerts, old computer worms -- such as Magistr, Sircam,
Nimda and Bugbear -- continue to stay atop the threat
lists of many anti-virus firms. While these worms may
be outpaced by advancing technology and security,
they continue to plague corporate, government and
home computer systems. Why can't we squash them?
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22096.html
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