NewsBits for April 2, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Internet rape fantasy 'game' goes horribly wrong A man enacting a rape fantasy game with a "victim" he met in an Internet chatroom broke into the wrong apartment and assaulted an innocent woman, CNN reports. Michael Todd Howard, 35, admitted burglary in a San Diego court after plea bargaining his way out of an intent to commit rape, false imprisonment and possession of illegal drugs rap. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/36765.html - - - - - - - - - - Former U.S. Marine Jailed Over UK Child Kidnap A former U.S. Marine who abducted a 12-year-old British girl was jailed for four and half years at Manchester Crown Court on Friday. Toby Studabaker, 32, from Michigan, had also admitted incitement to gross indecency with the girl, whom he contacted over the Internet. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4737254 - - - - - - - - - - Child Porn Earns Time In Prison A Greenwood man was sentenced to 15 months in prison on a child pornography charge Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith. Denny Eugene Goines, 38, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in December, in exchange for federal prosecutors' dropping a charge of coercion or enticement of a female. Law enforcement became aware of Goines in May when the sister of a 15- year-old Fort Smith girl told Fort Smith police that her younger sister was going to meet a 37-year-old man she met on the Internet and that she had expressed a desire to sleep with him. http://www.swtimes.com/archive/2004/April/01/news/child_porn.html - - - - - - - - - - Funeral director pleads guilty to child-sex charges A funeral director pleaded guilty Thursday to crossing state lines to have sex with a minor, authorities said. Charles F. Murray, 48, of Ambler, Pa., met a 14-year- old boy from Logan Township on the Internet in March 2003, authorities said. Twice last May, Murray and the boy met at a convenience store in Logan, then drove to an industrial park and performed sex acts, according to the guilty plea. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--childsexplea0401apr01,0,1463832.story - - - - - - - - - - Sex suspect convicted, charged An Albemarle County man convicted this week of soliciting prostitution over the Internet was charged the same day with proposing sex to an investigator posing as a minor, police said. Nathaniel Hollis Lamb, 20, of 3931 Blenheim Road, was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail, all suspended, after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor solicitation charge, according to Dave Chapman, Charlottesville commonwealth's attorney. http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031774653420&path=!news - - - - - - - - - - Internet chatroom sex pest lured boy A paedophile sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy he lured through an internet chatroom and downloaded more than 50,000 indecent images of children, a court heard. Graham Kennedy, aged 30, of Roman Way, Rowley Regis, met the vulnerable teenager and performed a sex attack on him on two separate occasions. The assaults only came to light when the boy's horrified mother read about them in graphic detail on his mobile phone after Kennedy sent several text messages. The boy's mother contacted the police who then searched Kennedy's home and discovered a hoard of perverted images stashed on his computer hard drive. http://www.expressandstar.com/artman/publish/article_56390.php - - - - - - - - - - Magnolia man busted in sex sting A Magnolia man was among seven Houston-area men nabbed in a sting operation targeting Internet child predators. Officers from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's Cyber Crime Unit arrested Michael Edward Penton, 44, of the 25000 block of Holly Oaks Court in far southwest Montgomery County, Tuesday. "He traveled to a hotel in Huntsville expecting to meet a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl," said Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office. Penton was instead greeted by Cyber Crimes Unit investigators, who placed him in handcuffs and booked him into the Walker County Jail. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11220475&BRD=1569&PAG=461&dept_id=180945&rfi=6 - - - - - - - - - - Abuse Expert: 'Child Porn Was for Research' A world authority on research into child abuse who admitted downloading child pornography told a court today that he destroyed his academic records after he was arrested. He said it was because he feared they would be misinterpreted by the police. Professor Christopher Bagley, 66, of Lesley Gardens, Sutton, Surrey, has pleaded guilty to downloading 16 indecent images of children. A trial of issue is being held at Portsmouth Crown Court to establish whether Bagley had the pictures, which were of young boys, for his own sexual gratification or for legitimate research for his work at the Department of Social Science at the University of Southampton. http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2727710 - - - - - - - - - - Europe wide open to virus attacks European businesses are losing billions of pounds each year as a result of internet viruses, but many are still failing to take basic measures to ward off attacks, such as keeping anti-virus software up to date, according to a survey by McAfee security. http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=129701 Computer virus damage shatters records http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040402.gtjackvirusapr2/BNStory/Technology/ Netsky dominates March virus attacks http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154019 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/36740.html - - - - - - - - - - Bookies race to beat net attacks The Grand National may be popular with the British public but, so far, it is not a favourite with online criminals. In recent months extortionists have threatened gambling websites with web-based attacks unless they pay up. But analysis of website responses at 20 British bookmakers shows that the Grand National has not prompted a new round of denial of service attacks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3592731.stm - - - - - - - - - - MSN UK shuts Member Directory over paedo fears MSN UK has shut down its Members Directory over fears, presumably, that it could be used by paedophiles searching for young victims. This is our assumption, because MSN refused to discuss exactly why it had decided to close the directory which lists its members' details. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/36775.html - - - - - - - - - - Spammers fool Outlook with a new trick Outlook 2003's anti-spam technology is being fooled by spam messages that contain hundreds of hidden words not usually associated with spam. Spammers are inserting hidden words into their email messages to fool Microsoft Outlook's built-in anti-spam technology. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39150695,00.htm Spam reaches new high in March http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154025 'Spim' threat hovers on horizon http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39150679,00.htm EC: implement e-privacy directive - or else http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/36759.html - - - - - - - - - - Insurers to drop hacking premiums Prices for hacking insurance are predicted to drop for some businesses as insurers begin to understand the market better. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154014 - - - - - - - - - - Companies sharpen tech tools to counter scams As Internet scams, also known as phishing, proliferate, companies are sharpening technological tools to counter them. Education alone, many agree,isn't enough. Anti- phishing software is apt to soon be added to the arsenal of digital shields forged to stop spam, viruses and hacking. Security companies are also building tools for banks and merchants to use behind the scenes. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-04-02-phish-fight_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Google's `Gmail' raises concerns Google -- the company whose founders vowed to ``do no evil'' with their products -- is raising concerns about privacy with a new e-mail service that will include targeted advertising based on scans of private e-mail messages. Announced Wednesday, the ``Gmail'' service hasn't even officially launched, but it is already alienating some who are worried that Google will snoop on their private electronic conversations. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8337390.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44454-2004Apr2.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43373-2004Apr1.html http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-google2apr02,1,3965552.story http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5184090.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/36714.html Why Gmail gives me the creeps http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5183826.html - - - - - - - - - - New security solution ships from Symantec Internet security company Symantec Corp has launched version 6.0 of its Symantec DeepSight Alert Services offering that provides companies with alerts for potential threats. http://m2.com/M2/m2web.nsf/pv/85256A0F00242D3C80256E6A0034125E - - - - - - - - - - Forrester questions Linux security A new study from Forrester Research has concluded that the Linux operating system is not necessarily more secure than Windows. The report, Is Linux more secure than Windows? finds that on average, Linux distributors took longer than Microsoft to patch security holes, although Microsoft flaws tended to be more severe. http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?NewsID=1329&Page=1&pagePos=6 Open-source flaw database launched http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5183853.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154027 Bug hunters go open source http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/36741.html New vulnerability database offers free security data http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25499-1.html FSA rules raise data security fears http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39150681,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Criminals go in the Internet At the International Conference "World Community against Globalization of Crime and Terrorism" held in Moscow January 20-21, 2004, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Valentin Stepankov spoke about crimes in Russia. He said the number of ordered murders committed by the organized criminal groups increased from 3,3 to 25 thousand for the period of 1999-2003 years. 30% of these crimes are related to contraband and 20% are the ordered murders. http://www.crime-research.org/news/02.04.2004/170 - - - - - - - - - - Computer crimes in Ukraine According to data provided by the IT Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the ratio of computer crimes to all crimes in IT sphere makes up 10,4%. Among them: 4,2% violated Article 361 (illegal interference with operation of computers, systems and networks), 5,6% violated Article 362 (theft, appropriation, extortion or abuse of office) and 0,6% violated Article 363 (violation of regulation of computer systems use). http://www.crime-research.org/news/02.04.2004/168 - - - - - - - - - - Electronic Snoops Tackle Copiers New markets are finally opening up for plagiarism- detection software, a mainstay of academia that has struggled to expand its reach beyond term papers. The scandal-plagued newspaper industry is considering whether to adopt the technology to crack down on copycats, while the New York Police Department is testing it as an investigative tool. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,62906,00.html - - - - - - - - - - ID cards 'very much on the political agenda' ID cards seem to be back on the fast track as Tony Blair says there are 'no longer' civil liberties issues. The terrorist threat to the UK will lead to ID cards will be introduced "more quickly than even we anticipated", according to the prime minister, Tony Blair. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020357,39150694,00.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/36748.html International surveillance plan slammed http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39150693,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Porn's new frontier is the cell phone The adult entertainment industry, which has netted billions of dollars through Internet pornography and gambling, is about to take on the wireless phone market. VTX Inc., a Las Vegas company specializing in adult mobile content, is planning to launch a TV-like adult service for wireless phones as early as next week. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8331436.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/36757.html - - - - - - - - - - Names, photos of ex-cons removed from Web site The names, photos and records of all former prison inmates in Ohio have been removed from the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's Web site. All that remains are the names of inmates still behind bars. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-04-01-ohio-mugshots_x.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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