NewsBits for January 2, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ FBI investigating small town's computers The FBI is investigating the town of St. John's computer system, which was hit by three viruses this fall. Town Manager Stephen Kil said he knows little about the investrigation, even after meeting with FBI Agent Keith Hall for about 90 minutes on Dec. 22. Hall told Kil he was investigating a complaint, but offered no other details. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-01-02-town-virus_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Court nullifies child porn plea by ex-teacher A former Kingston High School music teacher who pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts of child pornography had his conviction overturned Wednesday by a state appellate court, which ruled that Kingston detectives, working with the town of Ulster police, acted improperly in seizing a home computer on which the pornographic images were found. http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id=74969&newsid=10739258&PAG=461&rfi=9 - - - - - - - - - - Niles Man Arrested After Telling Cops He Collects Child Porn A 62-year-old man was charged with child pornography after he walked into a police station and told police he collects the pictures. Gerard Burbine was arrested Tuesday afternoon. Niles Police Commander Daniel Halley said Burbine told officers he'd been collecting the pornographic pictures since the 1960s and that he "just doesn't feel right about it." Halley said Burbine's collection includes about 3,000 images in books, magazines, films and downloaded pictures. He said none of the images was homemade. Burbine was charged with one count of possession of child pornography. http://www.nbc5.com/news/2736700/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65172 - - - - - - - - - - FBI probe of threats turns up child porn in Clearfield home A former member of the U.S. Army faces child pornography charges after an investigation into threats he allegedly made against President Bush turned up the illegal images. Though Clearfield resident Kent Watson is charged only with possession of child pornography, federal prosecutors cited the alleged threats Monday as proof that Watson is a danger to the community. Federal agents searched Watson's Clearfield apartment on Dec. 23 in connection with the alleged threats. During the course of the search, law enforcers discovered a folder containing several pornographic pictures in Watson's bedroom, according to court documents. Watson admitted to downloading the images from the Internet and then printing them from his computer, documents state. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,575040463,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Man faces kiddie porn charges A Kingston man was arrested on Tuesday and charged with 46 counts of possession of child pornography following a 14-month investigation. Jeffrey Holloway, 29, Lathrop Street, allegedly had various items in his home, including a computer system, containing child pornography. State police at Wyoming seized the items in a search of Holloway's Kingston residence. A subsequent search of the computer system and other evidence revealed 46 pictures, images and movie clips depicting children nude or engaged in sexual encounters. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10733568&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6 - - - - - - - - - - Man charged in child porn case A local man pleaded innocent Tuesday in Windham District Court to numerous charges that he stored media files on his computer that contained child pornography. Dennis Smart, 52, pleaded not guilty to six felony counts of possession of child pornography and was released on conditions. Judge John P. Wesley ordered Smart to report to the Brattleboro Police Department twice a week. He was also forbidden to possess pornography, to initiate contact with anyone under the age of 16 without adult supervision and from using a computer. http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8862~1864496,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Email virus spreads rumour of terror attacks in Malaysia A computer virus is believed to be spreading in Malaysia through a prank e-mail that claims terrorists are plotting attacks in this southeast Asian country, officials said. The e-mail, with the subject line "Urgent message to all citizens of Malaysia," was first reported by Malaysians who received it from a German-based e-mail account on December 20, said Solahuddin Shamsuddin of Malaysia's Computer Emergency Response Team, which monitors computer security. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_515012,00030010.htm - - - - - - - - - - MSN virus hits the net 2003 is ending with another computer virus causing havoc on the net. Anti-virus company Panda Software has warned net users to watch out for a new virus, a worm called Jitux.A, which is spread via MSN Messenger. http://www.web-user.co.uk/news/news.php?id=47502 http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-5134559.html http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3294541 - - - - - - - - - - Germans Get a Look at Dark Side of Cyberspace A loner is charged with killing and eating a willing victim he met in an Internet chat room. Every day there's another grisly revelation, a new stomach- turning detail about the smiling, smartly dressed computer technician known as "the cannibal." The trial of Armin Meiwes charged with killing and eating a willing victim he befriended in an Internet chat room is taking the German public on a dark ride into the human psyche. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fg-cannibal31dec31,1,7802314.story - - - - - - - - - - Vietnam jails Internet journalist A Vietnamese court has jailed a former journalist at a Communist Party magazine for seven years on espionage charges, capping a string of crackdowns on critics of the government. Nguyen Vu Binh, 35, had called for political reform. "Binh has been sentenced to seven years in prison for the crime of spying," said an official at the Hanoi People's Court. It was unclear whom Binh was accused of spying for. http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/12/31/vietnam.jail.reut/index.html - - - - - - - - - - AOL Spam Lawsuit Dismissed, Firm Says A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by America Online Inc. against a group of Florida computer technicians that AOL said had helped deliver spam e-mails, lawyers for the technicians said. Albo & Oblon, the firm representing the technicians, said U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton dismissed the suit, filed in Virginia, last week. http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/31/technology/aol_spam.reut/index.htm http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-rup31.2dec31,1,6239617.story http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39118827,00.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/34683.html - - - - - - - - - - Pentagon criticized on high-tech spying The Defense Department should have been more sensitive to concerns about potential government abuses of privacy from its highly criticized research project to predict terrorist attacks, the agency's inspector general has concluded. In an oversight report, the inspector general's office said the Pentagon's research showed some promise. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/31/pentagon.spying.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Viruses make criminal move More viruses are being written with an explicitly criminal motive. After a quiet start, 2003 has been another vintage year for computer viruses. The first seven months of the year produced no big-hitting viruses but all that changed in August when three malicious programs struck within days of each other. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3290251.stm New year, new worms to worry about http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3861286/ The 2003 virus hall of fame http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2003/103123106.asp Security Worries for 2004 http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,114058,00.asp Security Vendor Issues Dec. Vulnerabilities List http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1425300,00.asp 101 Ways to Save the Internet http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.01/internet.html - - - - - - - - - - Colon cleansing spam on the rise It used to be Viagra, body parts enlargers, mortgages, hair tonics and diet products, but lately spammers want to tell you to get your colon cleaned. The average person contains five to 25 pounds of "waste" build-up in their colon, we keep reading in dozens of spam messages. This can lead to colon cancer, deadly toxins and even 'parasite build up'. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34681.html http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/31/technology/aol_spamsubject.reut/index.htm Top 10 spam topics of the year http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3860692/ 50 ways to please your lover, and other spam tricks, continue http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24533-1.html Top spam subjects revealed http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39118836,00.htm War on spam turns to open proxies http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39118851,00.htm Spammers not deterred by Can Spam Act http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34690.html - - - - - - - - - - This Firm Is Not Yet Rated Cybersecurity is a tough job. The government is charged with policing the Internet - despite the fact that the Feds don't own it, can't regulate it, have no resources to protect it, and no mandate to change it. And then there is the inconvenient fact that the vast majority of the country's information infrastructure - telecommunications, finance, health care, energy, transportation - is owned by organizations whose identifying acronyms are not found on Capitol Hill but on the NYSE. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.01/view.html - - - - - - - - - - Defenses lacking at social network sites Services like LiveJournal and Tribe are poised to be the next big thing on the Web in 2004, but their security and privacy practices are more like 1997. Brad Fitzpatrick is president of LiveJournal.com, a social discovery Web site where over 1.5 million users post diary entries they want to share with friends. Although members post extremely sensitive information in their journals -- everything from their plans to commit suicide or sabotage their boss to their latest sexual adventures -- Fitzpatrick admits that security on his site isn't a priority. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7739 - - - - - - - - - - Indian giant Infosys backs RFID Indian information technology services and consulting company Infosys Technologies has thrown its support behind the controversial tracking technology known as RFID, or radio frequency identification. The inventory tracking system is designed to let companies better take stock of their supply chains, but critics fear its widespread use could lead to invasion of privacy by retailers and governments. http://news.com.com/2100-1008_3-5134569.html - - - - - - - - - - LAPD Hopes to Add High-Tech Partner to Force The COPLINK computer program can mesh data in minutes, a task that can take a detective weeks. Lack of funds is the only glitch.Every crime fighter needs a sidekick. For Batman it was Robin. For Starsky it was Hutch. For Sherlock Holmes it was Dr. Watson. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-onthelaw2jan02,1,3264291.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. 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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