NewsBits for October 22, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Mom Charged With Supplying Daughters To Porn Producer A city woman was charged Tuesday with providing her two preteen daughters to a 48-year-old man who featured them in a child-sex video that turned up on a computer in Japan. Police did not release the woman's name in an effort to protect the identifies of her children, said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, a state police spokesman. "She provided preteen girls, who were the victims," Vance said. "Some of these acts were videotaped and that's how they ended up through the Internet in Japan." The woman was charged with promoting prostitution and risk of injury to minors. Vance said more charges are being considered. http://www.wnbc.com/news/2570365/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Email snooping custody battle woman escapes jail An Arizona woman who intercepted the email of her husband's ex-wife has been sentenced to 60 days home detention. Angel Lee, 28, admitted snooping on at least 215 emails sent over a two month period last year to Duongladde Ramsay, former spouse of Lee's husband, Jeffrey. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33535.html - - - - - - - - - - Third identity theft in a week reported here An Arkansas City woman is the latest local victim of identity theft, marking the third such case to be reported to local police in just the past week. The 54-year-old victim reportedly had her identity used by an unknown suspect to open a cell phone account with Cellular One. Charges totaling $134.91 were made on the account, police said. There are no suspects in the case at this time and the investigation is ongoing. http://www.arkcity.net/stories/102103/com_0004.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Suit filed over violent video game Shooting allegedly linked to Grand Theft Auto. A $246 million lawsuit was filed against the designer, marketer and a retailer of the video game series Grand Theft Auto by the families of two people shot by teenagers apparently inspired by the game. http://www.msnbc.com/news/983565.asp - - - - - - - - - - FBI request to erase classified files nixed The Justice Department sought extraordinary permission to let the FBI conduct a search-and-destroy mission on any computers harboring classified information about a 1980s case that temporarily became public in a lawsuit. A federal judge, however, rejected the idea. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-10-22-fbi-hard-drive-snooping_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Citing privacy law, senators seek Pentagon probe of JetBlue Lawmakers from the Senate Governmental Affairs and Armed Services Committees have asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to look into whether federal privacy protection laws were violated when JetBlue Airways Corp. provided more than 5 million passenger names, addresses, phone numbers and travel itineraries to a Pentagon contractor working on a proof-of-concept passenger-screening system. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,86355,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Feds to Fight Digital TV Piracy The Federal Communications Commission will likely adopt rules that will allow programmers to attach a code to digital broadcasts that will in most cases bar consumers from sending copies of popular shows around the world, said the officials, who declined further identification. The approval, expected as early as next week, would be another step along the long road to the higher-quality, crisper digital signals, which have been slowed because of worries about piracy, high-priced equipment and limited available programming. http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60931,00.html - - - - - - - - - - UK banks and police proffer anti-phishing advice The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) and the UK banking industry today issued guidelines to help consumers protect themselves against Internet fraudsters. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33526.html - - - - - - - - - - Hacker trial raises prosecution doubts Better evidence gathering needed in prosecuting IT crime, says lawyer. The acquittal of a Dorset teenager accused of hacking into a US-based computer shows the need for better evidence gathering in prosecuting IT crime, legal experts have warned. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1145387 - - - - - - - - - - Typical child porn user is white male IT pro The typical British consumer of child pornography, is a white male professional, probably working in IT. A survey of 200 child porn suspects caught by the Thames Valley police in Operation Viola revealed that every one was male and no-one came from an ethnic minority. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33517.html - - - - - - - - - - Laptops Are Screened at Guantanamo Base U.S. troops are being ordered to surrender their laptop computers for security sweeps 72 hours before leaving the Guantanamo base in Cuba, officials said Tuesday. The new security precautions were announced as a team of military investigators wrapped up their assessment of security gaps at the Guantanamo base where 660 suspected terrorists are being held. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-na-gitmo22oct22,1,6122378.story - - - - - - - - - - Websites Fake Out Travel Industry The United Nations trademark and copyright agency WIPO revealed the existence of a raft of fake Web addresses that divert customers of airlines, hotels and car hire firms to a site selling cheap travel deals. The revelation came in a report from the agency on a ruling from its Internet dispute settlement center that one of the phony sites -- airfranceairlines.com -- should be closed down for infringing the rights of French flag carrier Air France. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60932,00.html - - - - - - - - - - AT&T aborts plan to block e-mail White list effort is halted after concerns are raised In a sign of how desperate companies have become to stem the flow of spam, managers at AT&T were about to implement a policy that would block all e-mails to its employees not sent from a trusted group of computers. In a memo this week, AT&T asked its major business clients and some Internet service providers to turn over the Internet addresses of their e-mail systems. After resistance, it halted plans to create a so- called e-mail white list. http://www.msnbc.com/news/983380.asp - - - - - - - - - - How to beat the 419 scammers So you think those wacky Nigerians who promise you compensation for assistance in moving funds from foreign countries to banks in Europe, are operating from scruffy cyber-cafes in Lagos? http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33520.html - - - - - - - - - - Opera in minor security drama Opera users are advised to update their browser software following the announcement of a potentially serious security problem this week. Vulnerable versions of the Opera browser (prior to v7.21) are subject to a heap buffer overflow vulnerabilities that can cause the browser to crash when rendering certain HREFS. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33539.html - - - - - - - - - - Proper tools secure Internet connections Making certain your connection is secure should be first on your list. Preventing hackers from gaining access to your files or, just as bad, your hardware itself is not difficult. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2003-10-22-security-tools_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Workplaces 'should ban camera phones' An analyst says all companies should bar mobile phones capable of taking photos from their premises. All companies, not just those handling highly sensitive materials, should ban employees and visitors bringing camera-enabled phones into the premises, according to an analyst. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020357,39117278,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Managed security service providers explained Chris Davis, executive, NamITrust (enterprise security solutions provider at NamITech), says a managed security service provider (MSSP) offers outsourced information security to businesses, small and large. The type of services offered by MSSPs can be clearly split into managed services and monitoring services. http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/techforum/2003/0310220809.asp - - - - - - - - - - Joe Average User Is In Trouble One of the many hats I wear here in St. Louis is that of college instructor. I teach courses in technology at Washington University, recently ranked the ninth best overall college in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, and at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, one of the better community colleges in the area. I teach smart people at both locations. One is composed of folks who can pay the high prices for an education at a nationally- ranked university, and the other has people who work during the day and want to improve their skills at a good public school while keeping their costs low. http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/193 - - - - - - - - - - Georgia takes a pass on anti-terror crime database Amid cost and privacy concerns, state officials backed away from an anti-terrorism database that officials initially considered joining a decision that makes Georgia the sixth state to abandon the Matrix project. The move also casts doubt on the future of a database that tracks personal details of all citizens, not just those accused of a crime. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-10-22-ga-no-antiterror_x.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33540.html - - - - - - - - - - Alaska adopts crime data mining A consortium of Alaskan law enforcement agencies today announced a new information sharing initiative that uses the commercially-available Coplink system to analyze disparate pieces of data for investigative leads. Seven agencies, including the Alaska Department of Safety and the Juneau and Anchorage police departments, participate in the Alaska Law Enforcement Information Sharing System (ALEISS). The organization will get federal funding for the first phase of the Coplink initiative. http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2003/1020/web-alaska-10-22-03.asp - - - - - - - - - - Guerrilla-fighting gizmos sent to Iraq Pentagon to test virtual microphone that may detect snipers. The United States is sending new high-tech systems to Iraq aimed at thwarting strikes on its forces, including a virtual microphone in the sky to help pinpoint snipers, the head of the Pentagons cradle of technologies said on Wednesday. http://www.msnbc.com/news/983735.asp - - - - - - - - - - Computer anger: Northerners shout, Southerners lash out When computers start going wrong, where you live in the country could affect how you react. When computers start playing up, people living in London are likely to resort to violence and hit their computer while people from Yorkshire will probably just shout at it, according to a survey published by security 'company Symantec. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/0,39020645,39117269,00.htm *********************************************************** 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. 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