NewsBits for February 19, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Restaurant workers aided credit card fraud ring It's a credit card holder's nightmare: Police say they have uncovered two San Jose fraud rings that recruited workers at local restaurants and paid them to slide customers' cards through a small device that secretly recorded account numbers and other information. Police say the ringleaders used the account numbers to manufacture counterfeit cards, and then charged expensive merchandise at stores up and down the West Coast -- as much as $400,000 worth of swag that the schemers either sold for cash on the Internet or kept for themselves. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7988627.htm - - - - - - - - - - Worm Mimics Familiar E-Mail Addresses A new worm called Netsky.B emerged on the Internet, spreading by mimicking familiar e-mail addresses and enticing users to open file attachments containing malicious software, security experts said. The worm, once activated, forwards itself to e-mail addresses found on an infected computer's hard drive. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-rup19.8feb19,1,4334491.story Netsky B is very pesky http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/35670.html http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/19/technology/net_worm.reut/index.htm http://www.vnunet.com/News/1152883 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-02-18-netskyb_x.htm Netsky.B Tunnels Through Windows Systems http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Netsky_B_Tunnels_Through_Windows_Systems&story_id=23206 - - - - - - - - - - MyDoom, Bagle-B are just a taste of viruses to come The MyDoom Internet virus and the Bagle-B worm are only a taste of viruses, worms and Trojans set to appear in the coming year - effectively representing the tip of the iceberg as far as destructive capability is concerned. http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/techforum/2004/0402190836.asp E-mail alert! http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,90301,00.html - - - - - - - - - - AOL, EarthLink Sue Spam E-Mail Senders America Online Inc. and EarthLink Inc. sued people and Web firms they say sent their customers more than 285 million pieces of unwanted e-mail. Atlanta- based EarthLink claims that a group of 16 individuals and companies known as the "Alabama Spammers" sent more than 250 million pieces of illegal commercial e-mail, better known as spam. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-rup19.6feb19,1,3548057.story AWOL on Spam? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54093-2004Feb19.html UK Watchdog bites mobile spam scammers http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/35685.html - - - - - - - - - - RIAA Suit Says Stores Sold Counterfeit Discs The music industry sent letters threatening to sue about 30 retailers it accuses of selling counterfeit CDs and music DVDs. This is the second round of letters the Recording Industry Assn. of America has sent to gas stations, convenience stores and other small businesses. The group in May sued 18 retailers that ignored the warnings or refused settlement demands. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-rup19.5feb19,1,3154840.story RIAA sued under gang laws http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5161209.html http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4305345/ http://www.vnunet.com/News/1152888 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/35663.html Maker of DVD-copying software calls Hollywood's reach unfair http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7987502.htm Net song swappers identities' seen as hard to track http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040219.gtpiracy19/BNStory/Technology/ - - - - - - - - - - Investigation launched into e-mail leak Eureka police began investigating Wednesday how confidential e-mails related to a fraud lawsuit against Pacific Lumber may have been stolen and leaked to the media. District Attorney Paul Gallegos alleged that about a dozen e-mails were stolen from the computer of Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen. The e-mails, dating from February 2003, describe advice given by a local environmentalist to Stoen on the Pacific Lumber lawsuit. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7987056.htm - - - - - - - - - - FBI spotlights digital piracy The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced a new antipiracy warning label Thursday that will be used on digital music, movies and software, cautioning of legal consequences for people involved in piracy. The new initiative is part of an increased FBI focus on digital piracy, bureau officials said. While no details were available, officials said that more money and manpower would be devoted to tracking down organized online piracy groups. http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5161871.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft offers security update CDs Microsoft will release a Windows Security Update CD which has all critical updates for various Windows versions. The CD-Rom is aimed at Windows users with slow, dial-up internet connections that can make downloading updates difficult. Microsoft still recommends users go to the Windows Update website for the latest updates, because the disc offers updates only up to 15 October 2003. http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=128484 - - - - - - - - - - Sex, drugs and cans of spam Viagra and diet pills are top of the spam chart. Email filtering firm Clearswift's monthly Spam Index records that 42.6 per cent of the unsolicited mail clogging our inboxes in January was from companies touting pharmaceuticals. The volume of porn-related mails has risen to its highest level since June 2003, but it still comes a poor second to the Viagra brigade, accounting for 22 per cent of spam. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/35677.html - - - - - - - - - - PKI's alive and kicking A 1991 college computer-networking class almost stymied my vocational momentum. The professor, a genuinely keen and knowledgeable fellow, spent much time explaining the most important family of network protocols that we aspiring careerists workers would ever need to know: OSI (Open Systems Interconnection, the seven-layer chocolate cake). http://news.com.com/2010-7355_3-5161272.html - - - - - - - - - - Roadblocks could slow RFID Radio frequency identification has become a hot concept, promising to streamline how businesses track and stock inventory. But companies may need to rethink their software infrastructures in order to make RFID work as advertised, say analysts and technology makers. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5161278.html FDA backs RFID tags to track prescription drugs http://computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/technology/story/0,10801,90288,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Porn The first thing you notice in Larry Flynt's office is the scent of roses. A bouquet the color of flesh sits on the corner of an imposing, intricately carved wood desk -- next to framed family snapshots and an oversized book of Helmut Newton photos. Then, you notice dozens of magazines stacked neatly in parallel rows with titles like Hot Couples, Barely Legal, Busty Beauties -- and of course, Hustler. Flynt launched Hustler magazine 30 years ago this coming July, but his increasingly multimedia adult empire now includes websites, a casino, retail stores and an ever-expanding library of videos. Not bad for someone who didn't graduate from high school. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,62343,00.html Sex lines a headache for ACA http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,8679023%5E15841%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Iran's blogging boom defies media control Take one exasperated Iranian woman. Add a computer. Hook it up to the Internet. "And you have a voice in a country where it's very hard to be heard," said Lady Sun, the online identity of one of the first Iranian women to start a blog a freeform mix of news items, commentaries and whatever else comes to mind. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/world/2004-02-19-blogging-in-iran_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Wireless exits possible for U.S. Visit The Homeland Security Department is considering wireless technology for the exit phase of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, a senior DHS official said today. We are looking at a wireless device to run the watch list at exit points, said Shonnie Lyons, Increment One manager for U.S. Visit. He spoke at a lunch meeting sponsored by the Association for Federal Information Resources Management. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25001-1.html http://computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,90290,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Ambulance service to pinpoint mobile calls The London Ambulance Service has implemented a system which automatically pinpoints the location of a caller phoning 999 from a mobile phone. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1152891 *********************************************************** 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. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however copies may not be sold, and NewsBits (www.newsbits.net) should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright 2000-2004, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.