NewsBits for April 30, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Two Arrested in First Test of Anti-Spam Law Federal authorities said Thursday that they had arrested two e-mail marketers and were searching for two others in the government's first use of a new law designed to crack down on "spam" e-mail. A raid was conducted on a Detroit-area operation accused of sending out millions of e-mail advertisements for a fraudulent weight-loss patch, the Federal Trade Commission said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8543317.htm http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-spam30apr30,1,5104872.story http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Can_Spam_Law_Meets_Its_First_Test&story_id=23901 http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/04/29/internet.spam.ap/index.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154843 Survey: Spam will beat Bill Gates http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5202203.html Spam Report Card: 2004 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5202236.html - - - - - - - - - - Senate Panel Moves on Movie Pirates The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a bill to crack down on would-be movie pirates who use camcorders to record films in theaters or put copyrighted material on the Internet before its release date. "Online piracy of movies, software and music is a growing problem, which threatens the ability of artists to be compensated for their work," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who sponsored the bill along with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "This bill will help end the most egregious form of copyright piracy." http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8560125.htm File-Sharing Is, Like, Totally Uncool http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.05/mpaa.html - - - - - - - - - - UK, US and Canada crack down on Net scams The UK, US and Canada are to work even closer together in a bid to tackle international scams - many of which are peddled via the Net. New intelligence-sharing arrangements with the Canadian Competition Bureau, the US Federal Trade Commission and the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) should make it easier for law enforcers to nab villains. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/30/scam_oft_net/ - - - - - - - - - - MPs urged to reform cybercrime laws UK computer crime law needs a root and branch reform to bring it into the Internet age. MPs holding a public inquiry to see if Britains key computer crime law - the Computer Misuse Act 1990 - were told the law had served us well but now needed to be updated. Industry representatives appearing before an All Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) hearing on subject yesterday were split on whether significant amendments to existing laws or fresh legislation on computer crime was needed. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/30/apig_cma_hearing/ - - - - - - - - - - Info Minister Issues Online Worm Warning The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) on Friday posted an alert about worms with a high potential to cause damage by spreading fast across the Internet.The ministry said it recently found a master server computer, which has spread ``Agobot'' and ``rbot'' worms to many personal computers. It has requested a police investigation. http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200404/kt2004043019280311850.htm - - - - - - - - - - FBI steps up Web hate group surveillance The FBI has increased its monitoring of hate groups' websites since the conviction of a white supremacist on charges he sought to have a judge murdered, agency officials said. Agents also are providing protection to a man mistakenly identified on one website as being a witness in the case. http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040428.gthateapr28/BNStory/Technology/ - - - - - - - - - - Alarm growing over bot software While many network administrators worry about the next worm, security experts are warning that a quieter but equally damaging threat is slowly gaining control of large networks of computers. Known as bot software, the remote attack tools can seek out and place themselves on vulnerable computers, then run silently in the background, letting an attacker send commands to the system while its owner works away, oblivious. The latest versions of the software created by the security underground let attackers control compromised computers through chat servers and peer-to-peer networks, command the software to attack other computers and steal information from infected systems. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5202236.html House probes spyware http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/04/30/spyware.ap/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-04-30-spyware_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Nasty Malware Fouls PCs With Porn Last Sunday, Maria DelGiorno gave up. She unplugged her laptop PC and carefully placed it underneath a statue of the Virgin Mary. "It was the only thing I could think of doing," said the 67-year-old great-grandmother. "The computer was filled with filthy things. It was embarrassing. My grandchildren kept asking me why I was looking at so much pornography." http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,63280,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Experts warn of Bluetooth security hole Thieves have acquired new weapons to exploit Bluetooth-enabled phones and computers to steal valuable data, experts warn. Though Bluetooth integrates certain security measures, security expert Adam Laurie has shown reporters at the BBC how he can 'bluesnarf' into other Bluetooth- enabled devices without permission using some software and a Bluetooth-capable computer. http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=8568 - - - - - - - - - - Biometric IDs OK With U.K. About 80 percent of 1,000 British adults recently surveyed say they want a biometric identification card, citing concerns about illegal immigration and identity theft. The survey by Market & Opinion Research International for Detica, a U.K. computer- consulting company, also found that an equal number would be "happy to carry the card at all times," though half wouldn't pay for it. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,63282,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Links to Terrorism During their opening statement in Sami Al-Hussayen's trial at the federal courthouse in Boise, Idaho, prosecutors put a new spin on the slippery concept of "links to terrorism." The Idaho Statesman reports that they "displayed a chart" showing how a Web site that Al-Hussayen had helped maintain "could eventually access 20 other sites with ties to radical organizations." Talk about guilt by association. Given the interconnected nature of the World Wide Web (they don't call it a "web" for nothing), just about any site with hyperlinks "could eventually access" something sinister. http://www.reason.com/sullum/043004.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Cyberterrorism - Terrorism and the Internet According to Daily Times, while the danger cyber- terrorism poses to the Internet is frequently debated, surprisingly little is known about the threat posed by terrorists use of the Internet. A recent six-year-long study shows that terrorist organisations and their supporters have been using all of the tools the Internet offers to recruit supporters, raise funds, and launch a worldwide campaign of fear. It is also clear that to combat terrorism effectively, mere suppression of their Internet tools is not enough. http://www.crime-research.org/news/30.04.2004/254 *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. 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