NewsBits for January 13, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Police arrest student for theft, fraud Over the weekend, Purdue police arrested a student on preliminary charges of alleged use of the Internet to commit fraud and theft. Some students are worried. Brianna Ebervein, junior in the School of Education, said "Credit card theft makes me concerned, because it seems so easy to get away with. Although, it doesnt concern me as much as other people probably, because I dont tend to shop online." http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2004/01/13SSion;=campus&storyid=index - - - - - - - - - - Killer taunts victim's family over the Internet Mary Kate Gach thought she had heard the last of Jack Trawick when he went to death row for murdering her daughter in 1992. Instead, Trawick's twisted writings about how he beat, strangled and stabbed Stephanie Gach and killed other women are available to anyone who wants to read them on the Internet. Many of the writings were put there by a one-time pen pal and admirer of Trawick's. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7701448.htm - - - - - - - - - - AT&T warns Worldnet Service customers of e-mail scam AT&T Worldnet Service, AT&T Corp.s Internet service provider, is warning customers that they may have been targeted by an e-mail scam designed to capture their credit card information. AT&T spokesman Tom Hopkins said the company learned last Friday that some of its customers had received fraudulent e-mails purporting to be from AT&T Worldnet Service. He said the company then sent e-mails to its customers warning them about the scam. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,89029,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Area man charged in child-sex sting A 22-year-old De Pere man was arrested Saturday after he allegedly arranged to have sex with 10- and 12-year- old girls while their father watched. However, that father turned out to be special agent Eric Szatkowski of the state Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Nicholas Arendt now faces two counts of attempted sexual assault of a child under 13. Szatkowski zeroed in on Arendt after a complaint was filed with the cyber-tip line of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to the criminal complaint filed Monday in Brown County Circuit Court, Szatkowski first posed as the father of two young girls, ages 10 and 12, in an Internet chat room and agreed to bring his children to Arendt's Morning Glory Road apartment for sex. http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_14141664.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Suspect in child-sex case arrested on new charges A Fayetteville man faces a second round of charges that he possessed nude photographs of girls as young as 12. Stephen Wilson, 28, of the 1400 block of Duncan Street, was charged Monday with first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. According to an arrest warrant, girls posed for Wilson "in a sexual manner" as he photographed them with a digital camera. Sheriff's Detective J. Stallings said in a magistrate's document that Wilson downloaded the photos onto his computer. Stallings said a forensic pediatrician examined the images and estimated the unknown girls to be 12 or 13. "Mr. Wilson also admitted to downloading pictures from the Internet of teenage girls for his own curiosity," Stallings said. http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=local&Story=6115863 - - - - - - - - - - Internet industry rejects child-porn blame A children's charity has warned that the Internet is making pornographic images of children more easily available - but the industry argues that it is involved in catching the culprits. A report released on Monday by children's charity NCH has put the blame for the dramatic rise in child-porn offences down to the Internet. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39119052,00.htm Pennsylvania child porn law causes 'massive overblocking of sites' http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34853.html - - - - - - - - - - China Authorities Battle Hard to Tighten the Web Liu Di, a 23-year-old college student known online as "Stainless Steel Mouse," was recently released on bail after a year in prison. The Internet essayist jailed for her ironic musings about China's political shortcomings gave a big wave as her father picked her up. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fg-internet13jan13,1,7386155.story - - - - - - - - - - New anti-spam laws fail to bite E-mail users on both sides of the Atlantic hoping for a legislative reprieve from spam are feeling let down. In the past month the U.S. and UK governments have passed laws designed to thwart unsolicited e-mail marketing. Their effect, however, will be unnoticeable because of legal limitations, according to those in the industry. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/12/spam.continues/index.html Random Acts of Spamness http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,61886,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Judge protects consumer rants A federal judge has rejected a Wisconsin company's legal attempt to assail BadBusinessBureau.com, which features thousands of negative reviews from consumers who claim to have been "ripped off" by unscrupulous retailers. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb last Thursday granted the request from the operator of the Web site, which also goes by the name RipOffReport.com, to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed last August by cookware maker Hy Cite. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5139690.html - - - - - - - - - - Screener Ends Up on the Internet A copy of the hit movie "Something's Gotta Give" that was sent to an Oscar voter has turned up on the Internet, prompting an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences investigation and signaling a fresh setback in Hollywood's battle against movie piracy. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-screeners13jan13,1,475011.story http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5140467.html - - - - - - - - - - RIAA adopts paramilitary garb for parking lot bust With one eye on their role in a future crimebusting cop show [*], RIAA employees donned paramilitary kit as they swooped on a Hispanic parking lot attendant in Los Angeles before Christmas. Faced with ex-cops wearing raid vests with "RIAA" emblazoned on the back, 55 year old Ceasar Borrayo handed over 78 CDs and DVDs of dubious legality, LA Weekly reports. Officers then posed before a banner reading 'Mission Accomplished'. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/34835.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft Patches Fail To Fix Dangerous Security Flaw Microsoft Corp.'s latest round of software patches fails to fix a flaw in its Internet Explorer Web browser that makes it easier for online criminals to dupe people into disclosing their credit card numbers, passwords and other private data. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13587-2004Jan13.html - - - - - - - - - - Flaws threaten VoIP networks A technical review conducted by the British government has found several security flaws in products that use VoIP and text messaging, including those from Microsoft and Cisco Systems. The flaws affect software and hardware that support the real-time multimedia communications and processing standard, known as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) H.323 standard. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5140284.html http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24631-1.html Symantec slams the door on Live Update flaw http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39119063,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Avoid worms with these seven steps Most successful worm infestations can be avoided by taking a few simple precautions. Although you shouldn't expect total safety, these steps will help you get close. And don't just follow these steps once; constant vigilance is the key. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,89005,00.html - - - - - - - - - - AutoScrubber permanently erases private data The Mac OS X operating system and the applications you use occasionally need to make copies of the data you're working with, and will later delete that data as necessary. Recognizing this as a potential security risk, SuperScrubber developer Jiiva Inc. has developed AutoScrubber, which the company bills as a "personal security assistant." http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,89025,00.html - - - - - - - - - - 3Com releases super-switch with built-in security F3Com has announced the immediate availability in the UK, US and Canada of a new super-switch that combines your normal switch with a firewall, anti-virus, content-filtering and intrusion detection - in short, a network's security all in one box. http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=displaynews&NewsID=862 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/34851.html - - - - - - - - - - Big McBrother invading workplace privacy? To a regular customer, the McDonald's restaurants in Winnipeg give no hint that they're testing controversial new devices for monitoring employees. But behind the grease pits and the clanging steel kitchenware, one of Canada's largest fast-food chains is trying out technology that is rapidly changing workplaces across the country and raising concerns about employee privacy. http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040113.gtbiometric13/BNStory/Technology/ - - - - - - - - - - Use PKI to beat phishers Digital certificates could ward against internet scams. Internet scammers are increasingly casting around for financial information by "phishing" - using spam to deceive consumers into disclosing credit card numbers, bank account details and other sensitive information. The e-mails purport to be from businesses with which the potential victims deal and advise recipients that they need to validate their billing information to keep their accounts active. http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=127491 Something's phishy at Citibank http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5139891.html Are Consumer-Grade Firewalls Really Secure? http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/story/32578.html - - - - - - - - - - MS joins in German chain's RFID Future Store project The German supermarket responsible for the Future Store Initiative is to roll out RFID tagging across the entire process chain, starting with 100 suppliers, ten central warehouses and approximately 250 stores. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34844.html VeriSign snags RFID tag deal http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34845.html Intel makes RFID play in Europe http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,88986,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Facing a biometric future By the middle of next year, the British passport could be quite different to the document currently waved at immigration. Tests on fingerprinting and iris scanning are underway. As part of growing concerns about national and global security, immigration and asylum, as well as plain old identity theft, the official UK travel document will not just carry a photograph, it will also have a microchip in it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3389209.stm Fingerprinting's big business for Cross Match http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2004-01-13-fingerprint_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Terror lists remain disparate A consolidated database for a single terrorist watch list is still not operational, and one lawmaker blames the delay on a lack of leadership. Officials at the FBI-led Terrorist Screening Center, responsible for consolidating a dozen terrorist watch lists, are testing a database application but missed the Dec. 1, 2003, deadline to have the center and merged list completed, according to Rep. Jim Turner (D-Texas), ranking member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0112/web-terror-01-13-04.asp http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0104/011304c1.htm - - - - - - - - - - 5 years ago... Schoolgirl stuns IT security world A 16-year old Irish schoolgirl has developed a mathematical system that encrypts data far faster than the industry standard. Sarah Flannery became Ireland's Young Scientist of the Year this week, after presenting her Cayley-Purser algorithm to mathematical experts. Judges described Flannery's work as brilliant, and advised her to publish her proof that the code is secure. http://www.silicon.com/software/security/0,39024655,39117750,00.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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