NewsBits for August 22, 2003 sponsored by,
Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu
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Antivirus experts warn of new Internet threat
The fast-spreading computer virus already blamed for
slowing or shutting down e-mail systems worldwide was
programmed to coordinate a new type of attack, antivirus
experts said today. Instructions written into the ``Sobig''
virus, which began appearing Tuesday, call for infected
Windows machines to try to download a program of unknown
function as early as 3 p.m. (Noon, PST) today.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/6594994.htm
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/6594985.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3173255.stm
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1143169
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/23257-1.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/21/sobig.virus/index.html
http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,60150,00.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/32475.html
Officials look to unearth Internet worm writers
They write menacing software with names like Blaster,
Welchia and Sobig that worm around the Internet
leaving destruction in their path, and yesterday
detectives and computer security firms were hot on
their trail. Computer virus writers have unleashed
an unprecedented outbreak of computer worms this
past week and while finding them will not be easy,
experts generally believe they are ego-filled
computing geeks out to impress others.
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2003/0308220854.asp
http://money.cnn.com/2003/08/22/technology/worms_hunt.reut/index.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32161-2003Aug22.html
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=142221
Who's minding the Net?
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5067200.html
Cybercrime team aims to protect computers
Jim Ellis blocked more than 1,000 viruses from
infecting computers at the Walnut Creek law offices
of Morgan Miller & Blair during a 36-hour period
that ended Thursday. "Since I was 10 years old it
has been a constant battle between good and evil,"
the senior systems engineer said. The Walnut Creek
Chamber of Commerce wants to develop more cyber-
warriors like Ellis.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/6592003.htm
SoBig To Launch Mystery Attack
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22146.html
Internet quiet as Sobig attack deadline passes
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,84293,00.html
Progress made toward shutting down SoBig servers
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/23281-1.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2003-08-22-sobig-attack-thwarted_x.htm
Security experts race to beat Sobig
http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-5067078.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/955498.asp
http://www.msnbc.com/news/955764.asp
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/22/sobig.virus/index.html
Viruses keep IT workers bustling Writers design quicker, smarter computer worms
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/21/BU157986.DTL
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22142.html
Worms double the trouble (series of stories)
http://news.com.com/2009-1002_3-5066900.html
Sobig update: Organised criminals marry spam and viruses
http://www.silicon.com/news/500013/1/5719.html
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39115886,00.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/22/sobig.culprit/index.html
Infected PCs Await Orders From Hacker
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-virus22aug22000424,1,1563561.story
Survey: Worm infects 30 pct of China e-mail users
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/22/china.worm.reut/index.html
'New York Times' has computer problems at headquarters
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2003-08-22-nyt-offline_x.htm
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Former U.S. Marine to Face Abduction Charges
A former U.S. Marine was extradited from Germany
to Britain to face charges of child abduction and
inciting a child to an act of gross indecency in
a case involving a 12-year-old girl he met on the
Internet. Toby Studabaker, 31, was arrested in
Frankfurt on July 16, four days after he and the
girl flew from Britain to France. Studabaker, of
Constantine, Mich., did not contest his extradition.
He said that he did not have sex with the girl and
that he thought she was 18. She told her parents
that she was not being kept against her will.
(LA Times article, free registration required)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fg-briefs22.4aug22,1,7833224.story
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=59801&Sn=WORL
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Retired judge charged with possessing child porn
A retired New Jersey State judge was charged Thursday
with possessing child pornography and transporting the
images across state and country lines. Stephen Thompson,
57, a 14-year veteran of the New Jersey State Superior
Court, was charged during an initial court appearance
in federal court. He had already been charged in state
court with possessing child pornography. Investigators
said Thompson, who has handled a number of Megan's Law
cases in his role as a judge, traveled to Russia and
had sex with a teenage boy. Megan's Law requires certain
sexual offenders to register with law enforcement
authorities and provides for community notification
in some cases. In cooperation with state and county
authorities, the case has been taken over by U.S.
Attorney Christopher Christie. Thompson is charged
with two federal counts of child pornography. Count
one of the complaint charges Thompson with possession
of child pornography on his computer.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/08/21/judge.child.porn/index.html
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2 plead not guilty in Internet sex case
Two men accused of using the Internet to arrange sex
with minors pleaded not guilty to federal charges in
separate cases. Michael Adrian Lee, 19, of Billings,
and Trevor Jason Bjerke, 25, of Bozeman, were arrested
when they showed up at rendezvous sites thinking they
were meeting a girl, who in fact was an FBI undercover
agent working on a task force on crimes against children.
Lee, who had been charged earlier by complaint, pleaded
not guilty to one count of coercion and enticement and
to a forfeiture count. If convicted, he faces a minimum
mandatory five years up to 30 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. Under the forfeiture count, Lee could
forfeit to the government property used to commit the
crime, including computer equipment and a cellular phone.
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/08/19/build/local/62-internet.inc
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Man, 19, Charged in Net Child-Sex Sting
A man who thought he had been corresponding over the
Internet with a 13-year-old girl was arrested Wednesday
at an Eagle Lake park, where he thought he was going
to meet the girl for sexual relations, Eagle Lake
police said. Frank Hinchman, 19, of Zephyrhills, faces
21 charges, including soliciting a child for a sex act,
attempted lewd molestation on a child and possession
of child pornography. According to Hinchman's arrest
report, an undercover police officer posed as a 13-
year-old and talked with Hinchman over the Internet
for two weeks. The report said Hinchman requested
to meet the 13-year-old female for sex acts in
Eagle Lake and sent child pornography to the
undercover officer.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030822/NEWS/308220397/1004
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'Net Security Expert Busted In Teen Sex Sting
An analyst at a government-affiliated facility in
Pittsburgh allegedly tried to have sex with a 15-year-
old girl after sending explicit e-mails. Ian Finlay,
26, of Pittsburgh's Friendship area, was arrested
Friday at a McDonald's restaurant on Route 30 in
Hempfield. He was allegedly planning to meet the
teen there, but it turned out that she does not
exist. State police said an undercover officer posed
as the girl and met Finlay in an online chat room
in July. They kept in touch via e-mail, and Finlay
eventually arranged a face-to-face meeting so they
could have sex, according to police.
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/technology/2426808/detail.html
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Watertown teacher charged in Internet sex sting
A Watertown High School teacher faces several charges
after being caught in an Internet sting operation.
His arrest is sending shockwaves through the community
David Simonin was busted in an Internet porn sting.
Police say the Watertown High School math teacher was
sending sexually explicit messages on line to a 14 year
old boy. When the 53-year-old went to meet the boy in
New York City, he ended up meeting an undercover cop
and was arrested.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=1412803&nav=3YeXHbUc
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Asst. Principal Arrested on Child Pornography Charges
An assistant principal is arrested in Mississippi
County on computer child pornography charges.
Police say 52-year-old Roger Dale Brooks tried
to solicit what he thought was a child over the
Internet, but it was actually a North Little
Rock police officer.
http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0803/99584.html
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Intrigue in a tiny Texas town
San Jacinto County District Attorney Mark Price today
will try to prove several elected officials were involved
in an intricate conspiracy to plant child pornography on
the laptop computer of County Judge William Law to drive
him from office and seize power. The story unfolding in
a district courtroom north of Houston has all the intrigue
of a spy novel that has left the tiny county seat of
Coldspring both shaken and stirred.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/metropolitan/2056935
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Man Pleads Guilty to Web Music Bootlegging
The purported leader of a cadre of Internet music
bootleggers pleaded guilty Thursday to violating
copyright laws, marking the first federal criminal
prosecution of someone who specialized in online
music piracy. Mark Shumaker, 21, of Orlando, Fla.,
faces a maximum of five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine for distributing copyrighted music
and software. He is scheduled to be sentenced
Nov. 7 in the Eastern District of Virginia.
(LA Times article, free registration required)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-pirate22aug22220422,1,4168919.story
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39115878,00.htm
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RIAA Target Appeals for Anonymity
Lawyers representing a woman calling herself "Jane
Doe" filed a motion that ultimately seeks to retain
her anonymity in an ongoing legal battle over Internet
privacy being waged between communications providers
and the music industry. Lawyers said they filed the
motion -- the first of its kind -- in federal court
on behalf of a Verizon (VZ) customer who was asserting
her privacy and other constitutional rights. They said
the woman was accused of offering songs for free
downloading through an Internet file-sharing network.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60149,00.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-08-21-jane-doe_x.htm
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Texas law to block misleading spam takes effect Sept. 1
A Texas state law designed to regulate and limit
unwanted e-mail takes effect Sept. 1, but experts
say the law will be hard to enforce and won't do
much to slow the spread of spam. Under the new
law, it will be illegal in Texas to send unsolicited
e-mail that uses misleading subject lines or offers
unlabeled obscene material. The law also requires
mass e-mailers to remove names from their lists
within three days of being notified.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-08-22-texas-spam_x.htm
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Hi-tech crime a 'significant' threat, warn police
The potential for losses through hi-tech crime to
grow is rising as criminals become more technically
competent, according to an annual assessment of
serious and organised crime in the UK. The warning
comes in a UK Threat Assessment report by the National
Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), published today,
which takes stock of the risk to the UK from serious
and organised crime and identifies key trends in
criminal behaviour. This annual assessment is a
classified document but for the fourth year, NCIS
is also publishing an unclassified version which
is designed to educate the public about the risks
from criminal behaviour.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/32460.html
Cyberterrorism: A Real National Safety Threat
http://www.crime-research.org/eng/news/2003/08/Mess2202.html
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Midwest banks using computers to share information on crimes
Computers have provided criminals with new tools to
rip off banks. Now, banks are using computers to try
to catch the criminals. Banks throughout the Midwest
can join FinCrime, a computer database that allows
financial institutions and law enforcement to share
information about crimes and provide warnings.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2003-08-22-midwest-bank-db_x.htm
Internet Fraud and Internet Banking
http://www.crime-research.org/eng/news/2003/08/Mess2104.html
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Boeing anti-spam subsidiary takes off
A Boeing spin-off will sell internally developed spam-
blocking technology. Aerospace giant Boeing officially
launched an anti-spam spinoff late on Wednesday. Dubbed
MessageGate, the new company will offer a commercialised
version of the software Boeing uses internally to fight
unsolicited email.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39115883,00.htm
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Hacking the hacker:
How a consultant shut down a malicious user on a client's
FTP server. Ethical hacking is one of the most intriguing
and exciting elements of our work at CQUR IT. In most
engagements, our efforts involve attempting to penetrate
a client's network, documenting the results of our efforts,
and recommending optimal strategies for mitigating the
risks we have identified. A recent engagement for a
software development firm took an interesting twist
at the onset of the project, as we quickly discovered
the client's FTP server had already been hacked and
was being used for illegal purposes. I'll describe
the techniques we used to meet the client's requirements
and explain how our efforts turned from hacking their
network to hacking the hacker.
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6329-5055990.html
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Write a Story, Go to Jail
Brian Robertson was just months away from
graduation at Moore High School in Moore,
Oklahoma, last year when he found the beginnings
of what he thought was a short story on a school
computer. He copied the file to another computer,
added some paragraphs to the initial text and then
promptly got arrested. Robertson, who was 18 when
he wrote the story, was charged with a felony count
of planning to cause serious bodily harm or death.
The story he wrote, titled "Evacuation Orders,"
described preparations for an armed invasion of his
school that included directions to unnamed fellow
commandos to kill the senior class principal and
then plant plastic explosives around the campus.
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,60144,00.html
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Woman burned by exploding cellphone
A mobile phone has exploded in a woman's face while
she was out shopping. The blast caused burns to her
face and neck. The freak incident happened in Amsterdam
earlier this week. According to local reports, the
phone switched itself off when the 33-year-old women
dropped the phone. When she switched it back on again,
the phone exploded.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/68/32462.html
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