NewsBits for October 1, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ FBI probes bogus bureau site used in scam The FBI yesterday launched an investigation of a Web site, since removed from the Internet, that masqueraded as a federal bureau site and sought to lure consumers to submit private financial information in a fraud technique known as phishing. The site displayed the FBI seal and U.S. flag, as well as the layout of the FBI site, surrounding text that referred to the ministry of protection of the confidential information, which purportedly was investigating a credit card swindle. It said, in stilted language, http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/23736-1.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/974015.asp - - - - - - - - - - Slow Telkom blames virus attack Telkom has responded to a barrage of complaints about slow e-mail delivery by firmly blaming a recent e-mail virus attack. Customers are up in arms about delays of up to four hours during the past two weeks, but Telkom says the explanation is simple. Telkom provides a free virus scan service, but for every infected e-mail that's received, another e-mail has to be sent out notifying the sender and intended recipient, says corporate communications senior manager Hans van de Groenendaal. http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2003/0310011222.asp?O=FPT - - - - - - - - - - Local Man Pleads Guilty To Sodomy, Child Porn A former Platte City man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to state and federal charges related to sodomy and child pornography. Andy M. Deuninck, 41, pleaded guilty in Platte County Court Tuesday to statutory sodomy in the first degree. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Deuninck apparently admitted to the judge that he had deviate sex with a 4-year-old girl between November 1995 and June 2000. Prosecutors said that the investigation began when the husband of a woman in New York, who had apparently been having an online affair with Deuninck, found child pornography on their computer and contacted authorities, who in turn contacted Platte City police. http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/2521685/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Man pleads guilty in Internet sex solicitation case A man who used the Internet to solicit sex from a state trooper posing as a 15-year-old girl pleaded guilty yesterday to solicitation of a minor for unlawful sexual conduct online. Donald Taylor Jr., 47, of Camden, N.J., entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis in Baltimore. Sentencing was set for Dec. 11. Taylor was charged in October 1999 after driving to Frederick to meet the supposed girl. http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.plea01oct01,0,7233008.story - - - - - - - - - - Fort Polk soldier pleads guilty to child porn charges A U.S. Army sergeant stationed at Fort Polk has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in federal court. Scott Andrew Olson, 32, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was indicted in July after he admitted downloading child pornography from the internet onto his computer in his barracks. http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1064987040141670.xml - - - - - - - - - - Man arrested in child sex sting Louis Buczynski allegedly drove from South Bend to LaPorte intending to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. Little did Buczynski know he would become the 10th man arrested in an ongoing sting by LaPorte police luring alleged child predators off the Internet. http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2003/10/01/local.20031001-sbt-LOCL-D3-Man_arrested_in_chil.sto - - - - - - - - - - Former detective admits downloading child porn A former detective sergeant who served 20 years in the Metropolitan Police is facing jail after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. Sydney Fillery, 57, was based at Catford police station before he left the force due to ill health in 1989. Now a private investigator, the father of one pleaded guilty to 13 counts of making indecent images of children in January and December 2002. Hugh Davies, prosecuting, said the investigator's premises in Grange Road, Thornton Heath, south-east London, were searched by police and his computer seized. "On examination there was evidence that he had been surfing the Internet on a dedicated basis for images of young boys of a sexual nature," he said. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_824495.html - - - - - - - - - - Prosecution ruled out in internet case A detective arrested on suspicion of downloading indecent images of children from the internet will not be charged with any offence. Detective Constable Chris Lacey, who works for Essex police and was based in Colchester, was arrested in October last year as part of Operation Ore - an international investigation into users of child porn websites. Essex police said the Crown Prosecution Service had decided there was insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution against Det Con Lacey. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_824618.html - - - - - - - - - - CHILD PORN MAN WALKS FREE A Bath man has escaped a prison sentence despite being obsessed with pornography and downloading more than 1,000 indecent pictures of children from the internet. Richard Pearson, 49, of Ringwood Road, Oldfield Park, was sentenced to a three-year community rehabilitation order yesterday after pleading guilty to nine counts of making an indecent photograph of a child. Children's charities have slammed the sentencing for being too lenient and not setting an example to criminals involved in child pornography. http://www.thisisbath.com/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=113966&command=displayContent&sourceNode=113965&contentPK=7235837 - - - - - - - - - - Man busted on sex charge A Massachusetts man faces a second-degree sexual assault charge after an alleged Internet acquaintance with a local 15-year-old led to a midnight meeting and sexual touching, police said. Police say they found the teen-ager and Kiant Hammond, 25, of 31 Hillsview Road, Milton, Mass., in a car parked off Louisquissett Pike, behind Lincoln Mall, Monday at about 12:45 a.m. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10242788&BRD=1713&PAG=461&dept_id=24491&rfi=6 - - - - - - - - - - UCD employee facing Oct. 10 arraignment on child porn charges Former UC Davis employee Christopher Bowers is scheduled to be arraigned in Yolo County Criminal Court on Oct. 10 for the misuse of university computers and possession of child pornography. Officers of the UC Davis Police Department arrested Bowers in early September after obtaining a Yolo County Superior Court search warrant. Bowers, 48, was charged with two felony counts of unlawful use of university computers and five misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography, said a UCD press release. http://www.californiaaggie.com/?a_id=205 - - - - - - - - - - Youth referred to prosecutors for selling child porn on Net A 15-year-old student who used his family's computer to sell child pornography CD-ROMS over the Internet, raking in 250,000 yen, has been referred to public prosecutors, police said. The 15-year-old, whose name cannot be disclosed because he is a minor, was referred to the Okazaki branch of the Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office on Monday. He is accused of violating the child pornography and prostitution prohibition law and of possessing and selling illicit goods. http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030930p2a00m0fp012000c.html - - - - - - - - - - Internet attacks rose this year, security company says Attacks on computer systems by virus writers and hackers continued to rise during the first half of the year, the Internet-security firm Symantec Corp. said Wednesday. Attacks by automated programs that spread like viruses and worms to exploit software flaws rose 20 percent in the first half of 2003 compared with the previous six- month period. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/6908081.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/33151.html Instant messaging helps spread viruses: report http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1065009891534_77///?hub=SciTech http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39116816,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Music Industry Will Talk Before Suing The music industry, criticized for its recent wave of lawsuits aimed at stopping song swapping on the Internet, agreed yesterday to contact future defendants before they are sued and give them a chance to pay a cash settlement or argue that they have been mistakenly accused of copyright infringement. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7110 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25435-2003Sep30.html http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60654,00.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/09/30/download.music.ap/index.html RIAA suits jam file-sharing traffic http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5084736.html Rappers in Disharmony on P2P http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,60650,00.html Record industry fires warning shot http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-09-30-piracy_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - DHS cyber division taking shape, despite concerns about waning influence A principal adviser to the new head of the Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) has reiterated that the division and its industry outreach program remain key players at the DHS and that it has a direct line to senior officials, including Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and President Bush. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,85589,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Brits pound OpenSSL bugs Research by the U.K. government into a once-overlooked class of software vulnerability has surfaced three new security holes in the ubiquitous OpenSSL software package, according to advisories released Tuesday. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33148.html - - - - - - - - - - Cisco halts Huawei piracy suit Cisco Systems today agreed to suspend its patent infringement lawsuit against Huawei after the Chinese equipment manufacturer signed an agreement to modify some of its products. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/33160.html http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,85587,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Data-mining advisory group at Defense may continue work The independent advisory committee established to examine privacy concerns with the development of data-analysis technologies at the Defense Department is leaning toward recommending that it be made permanent, as suggestions mount that such research be continued. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0903/093003td2.htm - - - - - - - - - - Texas computer centre offers ethical hacking course A Texas-based computer education centre has started offering a course in ethical hacking called the Certified Ethical Hacker certification. The SMU School of Engineering's Advanced Computer Education Centres, based in Plano and San Antonio, are offering the course for those who have some knowledge of both Windows and Linux. The LNX Linux distribution is being used in the classroom. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/01/1064819974512.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft moves beyond patches Conceding that its strategy of patching Windows holes as they emerge has not worked, Microsoft plans next week to outline a new security effort focused on what the company calls "securing the perimeter," a company executive told CNET News.com. Although Microsoft will continue to devise ways to improve the means by which Windows users apply upgrades, or patches, to their software, the company had realized that too many customers don't upgrade quickly enough to thwart hackers. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5085251.html - - - - - - - - - - Spyware threat creeps up on PCs Online espionage becoming as prevalent a threat as virus-carrying spam email. Use of surveillance software to spy on home and business PCs is on the rise, and antivirus software alone offers little defence, security firm Clearswift has warned. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1144015 - - - - - - - - - - Virus Experts Ask: What's in a Name? Current naming system often leaves everyone confused, industry insiders agree. "What's in a name?" That was the question computer virus experts were asking each other at a panel discussion of virus naming conventions at Virus Bulletin 2003, an annual gathering of the world's leading authorities on computer viruses, worms, and malicious code that was held in Toronto last week. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,112701,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Remote control How to avoid mobile security headaches by implementing the right safety measures. Each week vnunet.com asks a different expert to give their views on recent security issues, with advice, warnings and information on the latest threats. This week Tony Caine, vice president EMEA at VPN vendor Aventail, examines the problems of remote access security and recommends effective measures to minimise the risks. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1144001 - - - - - - - - - - French home secretary announces chip ID card A "perfectly secure" electronic identity card will be in use in France by 2006, French Home Secretary Nicolas Sarkozy has announced. The card will carry a chip which will combine "the standard type of personal data you get in this type of document and an electronic certification system". A digital authentication system with a public key infrastructure (PKI) will be used to guarantee the authenticity of the holder and ensure confidentiality. http://silicon.com/news/500022-500001/1/6228.html - - - - - - - - - - Numberplate tracker sought THE Western Australian Police Service is looking for an automatic numberplate recognition system for tracking "vehicles of interest". Automatic vehicle number recognition systems track cars with video cameras and check numberplates against records such as stolen vehicle and criminal databases. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7418173%5E15321%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.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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