NewsBits for December 12, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Man pleads not guilty in spam rage The Sunnyvale man arrested last month for raging against the spam machine pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges that he threatened to kill or injure employees of a Canadian company he believed had been bombarding him with unsolicited e-mails. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7474945.htm - - - - - - - - - - Thieving narcs had byte stuff Two sticky-fingered narcs charged with robbing a drug courier of $169,000 picked their heist locations by using confidential data in an NYPD computer, the Daily News has learned. Detective Julio Vasquez and his ex-partner in Manhattan North Narcotics, retired Detective Thomas Rachko, used the data to ensure there was no active probe at the drug spot they intended to hit, a law enforcement source said. http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/145244p-128314c.html - - - - - - - - - - Hacker - "cash dispensers cleaner" - has been arrested Economic Crime Unit in cooperation with Security Service of Ukraine arrested person cleaning cash dispensers of one of the most known bank in Kiev, - The Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affair of Ukraine said. According to Law Enforcement, hacker obtained plastic cards numbers, identities of cards holders, and PIN of the clients; after that he made the duplicates of cards having used office techniques. Offender applied magnetic strip on the false cards, coded it and drew out cash from others accounts. http://www.crime-research.org/news/2003/12/Mess1203.html - - - - - - - - - - DVD Jon appeal ends: verdict before Xmas The appeal trial of Jon Lech Johansen ended yesterday in Norway, with prosecutors repeating their demand for a suspended custodial sentence. Johansen circumvented the CSS encryption scheme on DVDs, allowing him to watch movies he had already bought on his Linux computer. Johansen was acquitted in January. The judge is expected to deliver a verdict on December 22. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/34476.html - - - - - - - - - - Walls man gets 20 years for possession of child porn A Walls man was convicted Thursday of possession of child pornography sentenced to 20 years in prison. Circuit Court Judge George Ready pronounced the maximum sentence on Scott Foley, 40, and said prosecutors had presented solid evidence of his guilt. "The evidence is clear that this man is guilty and there are no ifs, ands or buts," Ready said. "I don't think the court can consider anything but the maximum sentence." During the trial and summation, Taylor said Foley was unaware that the pornographic material was on his computer's hard drive and the CD. Taylor said a female friend of Foley's and her teenage son lived at Foley's resident for about three months in late 2001 and early 2002. He argued the boy could have downloaded the images without Foley's knowledge. The defense produced a computer expert who testified that there are many methods by which individuals can break into or hack into a personal computer and alter files or download material without the owner's knowledge. http://www.godesoto.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2785 - - - - - - - - - - Mallon sees US prison sentence doubled A former acting chief executive of the Ulster Scots Agency in Belfast has had his prison sentence for a child sex offence doubled by a US judge. Stan Mallon from Crumlin in Co Antrim must now serve 41 months in jail for arranging to meet a 14-year- old girl for sex in a hotel room in Chicago in 2002. He was also fined $5,000. Mallon was jailed for 21 months last March, after admitting using an Internet chatline to contact a girl who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/1212/mallon.html - - - - - - - - - - Franklin County constable in custody on child-porn charges A Franklin County constable was being held at the Fayette County Detention Center yesterday, facing federal charges that he sent pornographic photos involving children over the Internet. Hugh Russ Campbell, 59, of Frankfort, allegedly broke interstate commerce laws by sending such pictures over the Internet, The State Journal of Frankfort reported. Campbell allegedly posted several pictures and two movie clips depicting child pornography in an Internet chat room in July. The FBI traced the screen name to Campbell, authorities said. http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/12/12ky/met-6-constable12120-1910.html - - - - - - - - - - Second boy accuses man charged with sex abuse A 65-year-old Bloomington man charged in August with sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy he met through an Internet chat room has been accused of similar abuse by a second child. An amended criminal complaint was filed last month in Hennepin County District Court against Gerald Albert Bensfield, who now faces three charges of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. http://www.mnsun.com/story.asp?city=Bloomington&story=125551 - - - - - - - - - - Investigators seize computers, photos An Alton construction worker has confessed to producing child pornography, and investigators now are seeking evidence from computers seized from his apartment, state police said Thursday. "It's too early in the investigation to determine how widespread this is," said Craig Koehler, interim commander of the Illinois State Police District 11 headquarters in Collinsville. Charles D. "Skip" Vassar, 48, also has admitted he sexually abused a younger man whose suspected viewing of Internet pornography sparked the investigation, police said. http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/7472292.htm - - - - - - - - - - Chesco man is arrested for having child porn A man who brought his computer in for maintenance was arrested after workers reported to police that they had found images of child pornography on the hard drive. Gary F. Henderson, 57, of Upper Uwchlan, turned himself in to county detectives Monday as the result of an investigation initiated earlier in the year. "Who knows what other kind of exploitation this guy could have gotten into had he not been arrested," said Chief County Detective Albert DiGiacomo. In February, workers at a Pottstown computer business that was conducting maintenance on the hard drive of Henderson's computer saw the images and called Pottstown police. http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10652006&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=6 - - - - - - - - - - Scam sites start spoofing secure sites Latest cons show increasing sophistication of cyber- criminals. Online shoppers are being warned to look out for fraudulent websites dressed up as real businesses following the launch of a police investigation into a spoof website scam. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151511 Internet Stockbrokerage Scam Warning Issued An insurance fund is warning people about a new scheme whose perpetrators use the Internet and ``steal'' brokerage firms' identities to bilk investors in the United States and abroad. http://www.tampatrib.com/Business/MGA8TLOM3OD.html Microsoft studies browser flaw that may aid ID theft http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-12-11-microsoft2_x.htm Microsoft Probes Flaw That Could Help Fraudsters Create Fake Web Sites http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml%3Bjsessionid=52YGMC3K2OWTAQSNDBCSKHY?articleId=16700304 - - - - - - - - - - Gruesome video game becomes first banned in New Zealand A computer game that encourages players to kill all in sight in ever more gruesome ways has become the first video game banned in New Zealand. In a 12-page statement issued Friday, New Zealand's Office of Film and Literature Classification said the game ``Manhunt'' depicts horror, cruelty, crime and violence in such a manner that its availability was likely to hurt the public good. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7477209.htm http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-12-12-manhunt-ban-nz_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Canada deems P2P downloading legal In a ruling released Friday, copyright regulators in Canada said downloading copyrighted music from peer-to-peer networks appears to be legal under Canadian law but that uploading is still prohibited. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5121479.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/1004399.asp - - - - - - - - - - Anti-spam law will tie up UK firms up in red tape The Government's legal attempt to crack down on email spam and unwanted phone calls has been condemned as a recipe for disaster that will hit law abiding UK businesses much harder than the spammers it is trying to stop. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/67/34493.html - - - - - - - - - - HP email abuse dismissals unfair, says tribunal Three workers at Hewlett Packards plant in Renfrewshire, Scotland, who were fired after sending or receiving e-mails of a sexual nature, have won a claim of unfair dismissal, according to local newspaper reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/34497.html - - - - - - - - - - Los Alamos lab workers face retraining after security lapse Poor record-keeping is being blamed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory after nine classified computer floppy disks and a large-capacity storage disk were found to be missing during a routine inventory of classified electronic storage media at the facility. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,88167,00.html - - - - - - - - - - UK firms drowning beneath tide of e-crime UK businesses are drowning beneath a rising tide of computer crime, says Microsoft which is coming to the rescue with new chums the National High Tech Crime Unit, Business Watch and the British Chambers of Commerce. Almost half of UK small firms suffer at least one malicious security breach every year, ranging from major hacking incidents to small-scale email security issues and theft of hardware and intellectual property, according to Microsoft http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/67/34494.html - - - - - - - - - - US e-commerce sites under pressure to secure data Providers of e-commerce services in the US who do not secure customer data and prevent it being stolen may find themselves open to enforcement actions by the US Federal Trade Commission, the latest Netcraft news reports. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/12/1071125640793.html - - - - - - - - - - Hybrid software deflects attackers Fremont, Calif., a Silicon Valley city of 200,000, doesnt sound like a top target for network hacks. But when war began last spring in Iraq, the citys Web site, at www.ci.fremont.ca.us, received scores of hits from locations in the Middle East. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24453-1.html - - - - - - - - - - DHS gains chief security officer Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge has named Jack L. Johnson as the departments chief security officer. Johnson was the acting CSO on detail from the Secret Service. His tasks include supporting CIO Steve Cooper in matters of classified IT policy. Johnson will have broad responsibilities for personnel, administrative, operational, physical and technical security; counterintelligence; investigations; inspections; and special programs. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24454-1.html Evans on security: At least it's improving http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/1208/web-grades-12-12-03.asp Cybersecurity debate heats up http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,88180,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Online banks plan face-recognition trials Your face is set to replace a PIN number or password when accessing bank accounts online. Internet banks in the UK and Europe are set to trial facial recognition technology in the New Year that will authenticate customers from their home PC instead of passwords or PIN numbers. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020357,39118499,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Whats fed role in private IT security? The government has a part to play to ensure security of the nations IT infrastructure, but experts in a roundtable discussion today could not agree what it should be doing. Best practices are good, but teeth are better, said Peggy Weigle, chief executive officer of Sanctum Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., which sponsored the roundtable. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24455-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Sun agony aunt in virus scorcha scoop Dear Deidre, the UK problem page featured in The Sun newspaper, has junked its old antivirus systems after suffering application conflicts and a "disastrous" virus infection which took four days to rectify. The column receives approximately 1,500 letters from readers each week. But with two-thirds of communications currently arriving by email, it was becoming increasingly exposed to the risk of virus infection. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151512 - - - - - - - - - - Profiling System Takeoff Delayed A proposed new airline passenger screening system that would use private databases to identify risky passengers is facing delays amid heightened scrutiny from industry and government agencies. The system, called CAPPS II, would require passengers to give extra information, such as date of birth and home phone number, when making a reservation. A computer would then verify that information against mammoth consumer databases. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61553,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Britain eyes networked defence BRITAIN has announced a major restructuring of its armed forces, with plans to make them lighter, quicker and more technologically advanced to wage war on terrorism. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said Britain must modernise its forces so they can continue to fight side by side with the United States in the war on terror. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8140941%5E15321%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Your computer can phone home It's the beginning of the end for plain old telephone service. Even before AT&T announced yesterday that it would offer Internet-based phone calls next year, New Yorkers already had begun junking 20th-century copper wires in favor of cyberspace dialing. The fastest- growing way to reach out is called Voice over Internet Protocol - and telecom analysts expect that more than half of all calls will be placed that way in five years. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/145129p-128294c.html *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. 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