NewsBits for December 5, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Former employee convicted of threatening executives A former Global Crossing Ltd. employee was convicted of using a Web site to threaten executives at the now bankrupt telecommunications company. A federal jury on Thursday found Steven William Sutcliffe guilty of identity theft and making threats to injure the executives in Internet postings that began after he was fired from the company's Beverly Hills office in September 2001. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7423361.htm - - - - - - - - - - Police arrest 2 for allegedly swapping copyrighted movies, games In a rare police crackdown on Internet file-sharing, two Japanese men were arrested for allegedly disseminating movies and games with software that claimed to protect users' identities. The arrests -- only the second such case in Japan -- could signal an entertainment industry-encouraged shift here toward harsh penalties for anyone caught trading copyright material online. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7423496.htm - - - - - - - - - - Police force hit with i-Plod DoS attack Cambridgeshire police have been targeted by a spam campaign that tries to tie up the force's phone system. Malicious spammers have hit Cambridgeshire police with a denial of service attack by threatening recipients of emails to charge their credit cards unless they call a 'customer service' number that is actually the main switchboard number for the force. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39118336,00.htm http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151318 - - - - - - - - - - 10-year sentence in child porn operation Telling him he was responsible for "a holocaust for our children," a federal judge in Denver on Thursday sentenced a Colorado Springs man to 10 years in prison for his role in an international online child-pornography ring. Earl Webster Cox, 46, asked Judge Bob Blackburn for "compassion and mercy," but the judge gave him only one month less than the maximum sentence allowed under federal sentencing guidelines. http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1810189,00.html - - - - - - - - - - SIUC GRAD CHARGED WITH SOLICITING SEX A man who earned his doctorate from Southern Illinois University Carbondale last year is facing charges in Minnesota for allegedly soliciting sex with a police officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl on the Internet. Keith Eric Nainby, 33, was charged after a Florida sheriff's deputy with the screen name "ALFGIRL13" reported that Nainby made arrangements to meet in Florida and that he described sex acts they would do together. http://www.southernillinoisan.com/rednews/2003/12/05/build/top/TOP001.html - - - - - - - - - - Ohio inmate faces porn charge here A Cary man jailed in Ohio for propositioning someone he thought was an underage girl will face child pornography charges in McHenry County after he finishes his sentence and returns here. Scott Sinnock, 57, of the 800 block of Veridian Way was served in jail last month with a McHenry County warrant charging him with six counts of child pornography after police found explicit images on his computer, Cary Police Detective Sgt. Ed Synek said. Cary police were tipped off by counterparts in Hamilton, Ohio, who told them Sinnock admitted he had pornographic images after they arrested him in August, authorities said. (Chicago Tribune article, free registration required) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/chi-0312050173dec05,1,2285798,print.story - - - - - - - - - - Hollywood: Norwegian hacker a burgler A Norwegian hacker who has angered Hollywood by cracking a DVD copy protection code is a cyberspace version of a burglar, plaintiffs told an Oslo appeals court Thursday. Major U.S. studios, which have brought charges in Norway, said a film-copying program developed by Jon Johansen when he was a teenager had helped DVD piracy worldwide. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5113642.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39118320,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - HSBC's Hong Kong site 'spoofed' A Web site purporting to be the Hong Kong home page of the global banking giant asks customers to enter their security details. A Web site made to look like the Hong Kong home page of global banking giant HSBC Holdings asked customers to type in their User ID and password, the bank said on Friday. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39118333,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Con victims out $10,000 or more One of the most devastating scams ever devised by Internet thieves, capable of bilking victims out of $10,000 or more at a clip, is still going strong. Consumers lured by the combination of a great deal on their dream car and the false sense of security that goes with the name escrow service continue to fall for the staggering scam. In fact, experts say, its more common today than one year ago, when the con was first revealed. http://www.msnbc.com/news/999900.asp - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft warns on Xbox prize hoax Microsoft is warning of a hoax email which claims that the recipient has won an Xbox games console. The email from US based company Prize-Giveaway.com says: 'Congratulations on winning, from Microsoft and the Prize-Giveaway.com team!' The lucky 'winners' are then directed to the company's website. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151312 - - - - - - - - - - Cable thief becomes hook-up huckster A man convicted of providing illegal cable television hookups will become a spokesman for the cable company from which he stole. Dennis Cheatem, of Indianapolis, has agreed to appear in infomercials for Bright House Networks to discuss the consequences of stealing cable, said Al Aldridge, a spokesman for the company. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/05/offbeat.cable.thief.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Indian Cities on Verge of Restricting Access to Cyber Cafes City police in Mumbai look to cut cyber crime, terrorism and pornography by forcing cafe owners to pay a licensing fee, use software filters and check photo IDs. But cafe owners are organizing to fight the regulations. http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1070576918.php - - - - - - - - - - New California law makes recording movies in theaters a misdemeanor Sneaking a camcorder into a movie theater will soon be a crime in California under a new law designed to protect both copyrights and the livelihood of thousands of movie industry workers. ``This industry is the economic engine that moves this city,'' Police Chief William Bratton said at a City Hall press conference Thursday. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7423477.htm Should ISP subscribers pay for P2P? http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5113638.html - - - - - - - - - - EU presses members to comply with spam ban The European Union has asked nine member nations that have failed to adopt a privacy law intended to help the fight against unwanted e-mail to describe how they intend to comply with the law. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7423459.htm - - - - - - - - - - Net nightmares with no end in sight Mona (name changed) is a manager in a private insurance company. But shes about to lose her job and is frightened for her safety, as well as that of her family. The reason: a man she met on a matrimonial website is now her stalker, on and offline. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031205/asp/calcutta/story_2644665.asp - - - - - - - - - - No holiday for hackers Hackers paused briefly during the long Thanksgiving weekend to give thanks for security holes and flaws that allow them to wreak havoc on the Internet. The Global Name Registry confirmed that its .name Web site was hacked over the weekend, blaming the attack on the company's move to relaunch its services. GNR representatives said the site, which administers registration of .name Web domains, was attacked a few days after Thanksgiving. http://news.com.com/2100-1083-5113677.html - - - - - - - - - - Cybersecurity groups work on white papers Concrete results will come from working groups formed at a cybersecurity summit, members say. Five working groups formed at the National Cyber Security Summit released initial reports that focus on delivering concrete results within a year, task force leaders said on Thursday. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39118329,00.htm Rescuing cybersecurity http://news.com.com/2009-7348_3-5113645.html Homeland Security defends privacy review of visitor tracking system http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1205/120503c1.htm Reporter's notebook: At the DHS National Cyber Security Summit http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,87802,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Copping out on cybersecurity After convincing the government to back off, it's now time for Silicon Valley to come up with a way to plug the lingering security holes in the national network infrastructure. Technology leaders won a sympathetic hearing in Washington, D.C., nine months ago when they convinced the Bush administration to lay off of dictating baseline security standards. http://rss.com.com/2010-7355_3-5113614.html Security clean up--it's now or never http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5113696.html - - - - - - - - - - U.N. Summit to Focus on Internet Leaders from almost 200 countries will convene next week in Geneva to discuss whether an international body such as the United Nations should be in charge of running the Internet, which would be a dramatic departure from the current system, managed largely by U.S. interests. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36852-2003Dec4.html U.N.: Statistics on Internet use flawed http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/12/05/digital.divide.ap/index.html The Cybersecurity Challenge http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35977-2003Dec4.html - - - - - - - - - - Security fears push users to open source Security concerns are prompting chief information officers (CIOs) to consider moving from Microsoft to open source on the desktop, according to a report from investment house Merrill Lynch. A survey of 100 CIOs, (75 in the US and 25 in Europe) found that 58 per cent were looking at open source because of its better record on security. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151313 Official sees hurdles for 'open source' e-government http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1203/120503tdpm2.htm Microsoft prepares Windows patch CD http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39118339,00.htm Time-out code ambushes MS Small Business Server 2003 install? http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/67/34375.html - - - - - - - - - - Limited choice for Linux virus protection Boxall's CC, the South African distributor of Norway's Norman data security products, says Norman Virus Control (NVC) is the only locally supported anti-virus solution specifically for Linux. The company has just launched a strong marketing drive to target the local market. http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/computing/2003/0312050857.asp Fault found at Linux core http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151307 Patch fixes flaw behind Gentoo attack http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39118330,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Brightmail Updates Anti-Spam Enterprise Edition Brightmail will release an updated version of its Anti-Spam Enterprise Edition next Tuesday that promises to seek out and destroy more spam, provide corporate IT additional administration tools, and allow users of Notes and Outlook to better filter junk mail from their inboxes. http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml%3Bjsessionid=DT4IOGKDIRUXUQSNDBCCKHQ?articleId=16600039 - - - - - - - - - - New authentication system tries to block spam Internet services company Yahoo Inc. Friday said it is working on technology to combat e-mail spam by changing the way the Internet works to require authentication of a message's sender. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/12/05/spam.yahoo.reut/index.html - - - - - - - - - - 10,000 volunteers to trial ID cards A trial will test biometric elements proposed for the government's compulsory identity-card scheme. The government has announced the launch of a trial to pave the way for its compulsory ID card scheme. The trial will use 10,000 volunteers and test out various biometric elements for the card, including iris identification, facial recognition and fingerprinting. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020357,39118335,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Hackers of the World, Unite! Thor Larholm, a security researcher, recently suggested forming an organization to promote and protect the interests of those in his profession. This group would define disclosure guidelines, lobby against antiresearch legislation and assist with researcher-vendor relations. This would not be a vendor-driven organization, but one operated by researchers and for researchers. http://www.nwc.com/showitem.jhtml%3Bjsessionid=0IBWATHK3X5ECQSNDBGCKHY?articleID=16500051 - - - - - - - - - - Time is Right for Database Encryption Are data-privacy regulations and dreams about stolen employee data keeping you up at night? It may be time to protect your data where it lives--in your database. Database-encryption technology isn't new. Ingrian Networks' DataSecure Platform, which lets you encrypt certain fields before you enter them in the database and automatically decrypts them on the way out, has been around for a couple of years. But until recently, database encryption wasn't right for most enterprises. http://www.nwc.com/showitem.jhtml%3Bjsessionid=Z3OZ24UVZNU5QQSNDBGCKHY?articleID=16401578 - - - - - - - - - - Firemen's CD on Terrorism Will Aid 1st Responders Using their own time and money, two from the Santa Ana agency create an interactive program they hope will be useful nationally. Suspenseful music builds as a man with a baseball cap pulled over his eyes shows a fake ID and pushes a cart of fire extinguishers laced with deadly chemicals into the downtown Santa Ana federal building. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-onthelaw5dec05,1,1560348.story *********************************************************** 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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