NewsBits for November 18, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ 'Police abduction warning' email is a hoax An email purporting to be from Warwickshire Police warning women of the threat of abduction is really a hoax. The hoax email is being circulated to women in particular, and has led to calls from worried members of the public to the central England police force from as far afield as Thames Valley and Scotland. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/34064.html - - - - - - - - - - Businessman banned after Internet agency scam A man has been banned from running an employment agency for ten years after he ripped off job hunters who used his Internet-based operation. Adrian Michael Farmer ran three Internet-based recruitment agencies - Overseas Recruitment Services Bureau, Recruitment Services International and Amtrak International Services) - from offices near Aberystwyth and Camarthen, offering job hunters work overseas and on cruise ships. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/67/34058.html - - - - - - - - - - Pediatrician Pleads Not Guilty To Child Pornography Charges A pediatrician pleaded not guilty Tuesday to receipt and possession of at least 1,000 images of child pornography. Dr. H. Marc Watzman, 37, pleaded not guilty to a two-count federal indictment charging him with one count each of receipt and possession of child pornography. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of a Sony Vaio laptop and Compaq Presario desktop computers, the hard and Zip drives, computer disks, and pornographic images. http://www.nbc5.com/news/2647001/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Incidents shake up Peshtigo On Monday morning, a good portion of the once sleepy city of Peshtigo awoke to a world that had changed virtually overnight. In a matter of one week, two people have been arrested in the city on sexual assault charges involving a minor. Last week, Kevin Jordan, 43, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, was charged in U.S. District Court for crossing state lines to have sex with a minor, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, and traveling between states with intent to kill or injure another person. Jordan was arrested at a Marinette hospital after a maid found a gun in his room at a Peshtigo motel and alerted police. It was later discovered that he may have been planning to kill a 15-year-old girl he met on the Internet, and her aunt, and then himself. http://www.eagleherald.com/pinc1118.htm - - - - - - - - - - State corrections worker charged with child porn possession A Florida Department of Corrections worker was charged with 97 counts of child pornography possession after images were discovered on his state computer. Stanley Swift, a system programmer, was arrested at his Jefferson County home Monday night after a four month investigation. He was being held Tuesday in the Leon County Jail and not available for comment. The investigation began after the Department of Corrections received an anonymous letter. Florida Department of Law Enforcement computer crime investigators then found the on the computer. http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031118/APN/311181047 - - - - - - - - - - Porn charges filed after tip from agency A tip from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children led the state police down a cyber path that ended at the Washington Street apartment of a Huntingdon man. David Kenneth Caldwell, 31, faces 200 counts related to the possession of child pornography after state police found thousands of images on his home computer. State police were contacted about an image that appeared on the Internet in September, said Trooper Robert Erdely, head of the State Police Area III Computer Crime Task Force. http://www.altoonamirror.com/news/story/1118202003_newporn.asp - - - - - - - - - - Man arrested on child pornography charges A Catawba County man was arrested Tuesday morning on nine counts surrounding child pornography. Marvin Harold Witherspoon, 68, was taken into custody after a month long investigation. Hickory police seized 300 tapes of downloaded Internet porn, as well as photos and a camera. Witherspoon's indictment indicates children were having sexual acts on his property. Witherspoon is scheduled to be in court on Friday. http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-111803-al-arrest.1b4d78f2.html - - - - - - - - - - Child porn case considered by high court Child pornography convictions should be overturned for a Belle Fourche man found guilty under state laws that have since been changed, the South Dakota Supreme Court was told Tuesday. John B. Martin, 64, was convicted last year on 20 counts of having banned pornography on his office computer at an appliance repair business in Spearfish and 10 counts for illegal images on his home computer in Belle Fourche. Dave Claggett, Martin's lawyer, told the Supreme Court that state anti-pornography laws in effect at the time of his arrest were unconstitutionally broad and vague. Those laws have since been changed by the Legislature. http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7293632.htm - - - - - - - - - - Internet invite almost snares girl Lacombe Globe - A Lacombe girl who thought she'd found Mr. Right ended up learning a hard lesson in how Internet chat rooms can be places where people prey on others. The mother of the 15-year-old girl, who asked that their names remain anonymous, said her family is extremely fortunate that through the dedicated work of police officers from Lacombe, Edmonton and Toronto, their story didn't end sadly, which involved the girl and a 22-year-old man from Toronto with a record of previous offences. http://www.lacombeglobe.com/story.php?id=79896 - - - - - - - - - - Terrorism fears won't close mobile networks Reports that UK security forces want mobile phone networks disabled during President Bush's visit to stop terrorists using them to detonate a bomb have been denied by mobile operators. Following reports in the national press, mobile operators have denied that they will be closing down parts of their networks in London during President Bush's state visit to Britain this week. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/wireless/0,39020348,39117968,00.htm Plug pulled on London Webcams, as Bush sweeps into town http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34062.html - - - - - - - - - - New worm scams PayPal punters Stop us if you've heard this before. There's a new viral menace on the Net which attempts to con PayPal users into handing over credit card details. Mimail-J, the latest in a series of security-threatening worms, has spread quickly since its first appearance yesterday. Mimail-J typically arrives in an email with a subject line of "IMPORTANT" and an attachment named either www.paypal.com.pif or infoupdate.exe. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/34050.html http://www.networknews.co.uk/News/1148819 http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12721 http://www.vnunet.com/News/1149017 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5108404.html - - - - - - - - - - Annual losses from pirated copies in Russia make about $3 billion "The crimes related to pirated copying causes huge financial losses for intellectual proprietor and the state budget of Russia. Therefore, the solving of this problem requires more rigid approaches", the president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Eugeny Primakov said at the international conference "The Pirated Copies: Problems and Solutions". Participants of the conference believe that the situation developed in connection with mass distribution of counterfeit and forged goods deserves the close attention on the part of the government. http://www.crime-research.org/news/2003/11/Mess1803.html - - - - - - - - - - Bush Asks Senate Approval to Ratify Convention on Cybercrime President Bush has asked the Senate to approve U.S. ratification of the Council of Europe (COE) Convention on Cybercrime, which he said is "the only multilateral treaty to address the problems of computer-related crime and electronic evidence gathering." The Convention "requires Parties to criminalize, if they have not already done so, certain conduct that is committed through, against, or related to computer systems," Bush said in submitting his request to ratify the convention November 17. http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000048600,20281169,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - P23-M US package to fight cyberterrorism for RP The United States government is funding a P23-million package to combat cyberterrorism, to be implemented by the National Police. The package covers training in detecting and neutralizing computer-related crimes, and equipment to combat cyberterrorism. The US coordinator for counterterrorism, Ambassador Cofer Black, turned over on Friday to National Police authorities various equipment for the purpose. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/FlashNewsStory.aspx?FlashOID=12884 - - - - - - - - - - U.N. group seeks control of Internet Governments spearheaded by China, Brazil, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia are trying to place the Internet under the control of the United Nations or its member governments, a move that the United States and other developed countries are determined to resist. http://washingtontimes.com/world/20031117-113002-7678r.htm - - - - - - - - - - Witnesses haggle over anti-terrorism law provisions Former Justice Department officials and civil libertarians argued over the merits of a major anti-terrorism law on Tuesday, with the measure's supporters lauding its help with expediting anti-terrorism investigations and its critics saying it imposes undue privacy burdens. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1103/111803tdpm2.htm - - - - - - - - - - Clock Ticking on Spam, 'Net Access Bills With House and Senate leaders hoping to close this year's congressional session on Friday (Wednesday at the latest), debates over other issues may not allow time to pass legislation on spam, or the Internet access tax moratorium, which expired Nov. 1. http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3110271 - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft Anti-Spam Move May Harm Rivals Microsoft Corp.'s move to offer stronger anti-spam technology for its e-mail server software could spell trouble for companies that are trying to build businesses on products that filter out unwanted electronic pitches. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7292663.htm Gates: Tech to 'shift the tide' on spam, security http://rss.com.com/2100-7355_3-5107925.html http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/computing/2003/0311170920.asp http://www.internet-magazine.com/news/view.asp?id=3816 The economics of spam http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/34063.html - - - - - - - - - - CIO survey: FISMA is expensive but effective The government is spending billions of dollars certifying and accrediting systems under the Federal Information Security Management Act, according to a survey of agency CIOs and chief security officers. But tips from some CIOs could cut those costs by as much as 90 percent, said Alan Paller, research director for the SANS Institute. The study, conducted by the Bethesda, Md., security think tank, also produced practical suggestions for effectively improving information security, he said. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24198-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Cisco combats network worms Cisco Systems is to combat the spread of computer worms across internal networks. Cisco's Network Admission Control program is designed to minimise the threat posed when mobile or guest users connect infected PCs to internal company networks. Infections from worms such as Blaster and Nimda are frequently traced back to mobile or remote workers; their PCs are less likely to have AV protection and up-to-date security. Often infections from such sources break out long after the initial viral onslaught. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/34055.html - - - - - - - - - - ISS unveils attack-blocking devices Network protection provider Internet Security Systems announced Monday that it had shipped the first in its Proventia series of intrusion- prevention devices. The G200 network appliance will monitor traffic and automatically block any attacks that it detects, the company said in a release. http://rss.com.com/2110-7355_3-5108325.html - - - - - - - - - - Sun to acquire identity broker Sun Microsystems is not shy about its ambitious identity tracking plans, announcing today an agreement to buy Waveset Technologies based in Austin. Waveset makes a variety of identity management software, including the Lighthouse Provisioning Manger, Lighthouse Password Manager, Lighthouse Identity Broker and Directory Master. With charming product names like that who could pass the company up? http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/61/34065.html http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,87283,00.html - - - - - - - - - - New cell phone offers big shots eavesdrop-proof calling A German company launched a new mobile handset on Tuesday targeted at business executives that enscures that lines are free from eavesdroppers, sparking criticism that it could also make criminals harder to catch. Berlin-based CryptoPhone, a unit of privately held GSMK, developed the phone by inserting encryption software inside a standard handheld computer phone. This ensures that calls can only be decoded by a similar handset or a computer running the software. http://computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,87271,00.html - - - - - - - - - - 'Your PDA's data will self destruct' Like many IT services providers that find themselves doing the same thing over and over for their clients, St. Louis-based mobility specialist Asynchrony Solutions developed some reusable technology after it found itself routinely addressing the PDA security concerns of its customers. http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/Your_PDA_data_will__self_destruct.html - - - - - - - - - - Encryption revolution: the tantalizing promise of `unbreakable' codes Code-makers could be on the verge of winning their ancient arms race with code-breakers. After 20 years of research, an encryption process is emerging that is considered unbreakable because it employs the mind-blowing laws of quantum physics. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_462795,00030001.htm - - - - - - - - - - Applying patches? Call a doctor Patch management is a little like flossing your teeth. Everyone knows they're supposed to do it, but most of us still don't. Some pundits say the simple answer for patching lies in proactivity. Get the patch applied before an incident occurs, and keep the problem from occurring rather than fixing it after the fact. That's a simple truth, but in practice, it's a lot harder to pull off than it sounds. It also contradicts the way security is usually addressed. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5108482.html - - - - - - - - - - Is RFID Technology Easy to Foil? You may need to read the following sentence twice: Aluminum foil hats will block the signals emitted by the radio tags that will replace bar-code labels on consumer goods. That is, of course, if you place your tin-foil hat between the radio tag and the device trying to read its signal. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61264,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Police Computer System Gets $4-Million Update The city's police have become as fast as the click of a mouse with the implementation of a $4-million update to their computer records system. The new, fully integrated system was a three-year project, and makes the police agency the first in California to be this well-connected, said Lt. Phil Clarke. The system allows officers to use their in-car computers to map a location, get information on suspects, look at previous crimes that occurred in an area and file their reports instantly, among many other things. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-sbriefs18.7nov18,1,4111618.story *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. 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