NewsBits for June 8, 2004 ************************************************************ Drug ring indicted in odd identity theft case Federal authorities said Tuesday they have cracked a twisted case of drug trafficking in the Baltimore- Washington area that reveals how organized crime rings can use identity theft to supplement income from other criminal sources. Among the allegations in the indictment: that dozens of conspirators got their victims hooked on cocaine, crack or heroin, then took out life insurance policies in their names and collected when the victims died. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5166112/ - - - - - - - - - - Innocent auction winners unwittingly 'steal' merchandise It was odd that the package arrived in a box stamped Amazon.com, but the price was right, so Yung-Chi didn't think much about it. Later, he went back online and bought another 12 or so items from the same eBay seller; they all arrived from Amazon. He didn't think anything of it until U.S. Postal Inspector Barry Mew showed up at the door asking questions about the packages. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5158208/ - - - - - - - - - - Porn download causes school flap State police have confiscated two computer hard drives from the Griswold Middle School after the parent of a 12-year-old student found a picture of a man's erect penis in her daughter's back pack.Her daughter, a high honors student who has not been in trouble before, printed the black and white picture out on the printer in the middle school library after a man she had been instant messaging on the school computers sent it to her, along with his home phone number. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040604/localnews/570191.html - - - - - - - - - - Lawsuits readied against UK song-swappers The music industry is preparing a new wave of lawsuits against the most prolific Internet song- swappers. On Tuesday, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said that it will sue 24 individuals in Denmark for trading music files online and that Britain, France and Sweden could be added to the list of target countries. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39157020,00.htm http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/music/2004-06-08-euro-music-suits_x.htm Beatles catalog headed for digital distribution? http://news.com.com/Beatles+catalog+headed+for+digital+distribution%3F/2100-1027_3-5228914.html - - - - - - - - - - California identity theft law remains low-key Nearly a year after California's landmark SB 1386 identity theft law went into effect, there has been none of the troublesome litigation that had been predicted to come in its wake. But the law has raised overall corporate awareness of the need to have strong privacy protections in place, legal experts said last week. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,93667,00.html Preventing identity theft focus of regional meeting http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-08-id-theft_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - EU attacks anti-spam industry A senior European Union official has berated the anti-spam industry for failure to agree a common strategy. Philippe Gerard, an official with the EC's Information Society directorate, said that lack of co-operation is handicapping the fight to hold back the junk mail tsunami. "We see different initiatives going in all different directions and the effectiveness is maybe not there," Gerard told an anti-spam meeting in London. Spam is affecting consumer confidence, he said. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/08/spam_tsunami/ Spam-Fighting Theories Far From Practice http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1608453,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Vietnam Orders Net Clampdown Vietnam has ordered local governments nationwide to closely monitor Internet use and enforce regulations aimed at cracking down on "bad information" sent or read on the Web, an official said Tuesday. The move comes after the communist country sentenced several dissidents to long prison terms over the past two years for using the Internet to criticize the government and promote democracy. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,63764,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Security gaps in Dutch airline and government wireless networks During its special on computer attacks on June 3, the Dutch current-affairs programme, Zembla, demonstrated to television viewers just how easy it is to break into wi-fi networks and gain access to confidential information. The networks found to be lacking in security were operated by the Dutch airline, KLM, and the Ministry for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat). http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=1984 GAO points to airport security holes http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0607/web-gaotsa-06-08-04.asp - - - - - - - - - - Russia and China 'behind current spam deluge' As hardcore criminals step up their spamming, experts believe that nine out of 10 of all emails may soon be unsolicited junk. Organised criminals based in Russia are fuelling the rise in the amount of spam sent over the Internet, according to a leading opponent of junk mail. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39157120,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Woman fights for new domain to protect children Three years ago, Mary Conyers was shocked and horrified when her granddaughter accidentally pulled up an adult website on the Internet. She finished her homework and was going to look at Teen magazine and bam! there it was, Conyers, the founder of Protect Every Child, said. A simple spelling error sent Conyers' granddaughter to this pornographic website featuring teenagers. At that moment, Conyers made a promise to her granddaughter that she's still fighting to keep. http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=48769&SecID=2 - - - - - - - - - - Apple posts second Mac OS X vuln patch Update Apple has posted a second software update intended to fix a vulnerability that exploits the way Mac OS X handles URI links. We installed the update, Security Update 2004-06-07, on a Mac OS X 10.3.4 machine. After restarting the machine, we went straight to Unsanity's web site, the location of a pair of web pages that test the URI vulnerability. Neither tests was blocked by the update, details of which can be found here. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/08/apple_os_x_patch/ http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,63756,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft releases monthly security patches Microsoft Corp. released software updates for versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and warned customers about a security vulnerability in a Windows component called IDirectPlay4, which is used to support multiplayer network games. http://security.itworld.com/4940/040608mssecurity/page_1.html http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5228887.html http://news.com.com/Microsoft+patches+a+pair+of+flaws/2100-1002_3-5228887.html http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,93728,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Symantec: New Virus Deletes All Files Security The virus that "deletes your whole hard drive" has been a staple in dozens of e-mail hoaxes that have circulated the Net in recent years. In the real world, such viruses are few and far between. According to Symantec, the new VBS.Pub is just such a beast. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/06/08/symantec_new_virus_deletes_all_files.html Another Trojan on the attack http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39157002,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Cisco picks Trend to fight network worms Cisco and Trend Micro yesterday extended an existing security alliance with a deal to combine their respective technologies in the fight against network worms and computer viruses. Trend is among three AV companies who signed up to Cisco's Network Admission Control (NAC) program last year, a scheme designed to curtail the spread of computer worms across internal networks. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/08/cisco_trend_fight_worms/ http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Cisco-Picks-Trend-To-Fight-Worms&story_id=24489 - - - - - - - - - - Intrusion-prevention start-up touts 'memory firewall' The growing speed at which malicious hackers can exploit new vulnerabilities is creating a need for intrusion-prevention technologies capable of proactively detecting and blocking attacks even before software fixes become available for them. With that need in mind, Determina Inc., a Redwood City, Calif.-based start-up being launched today, is introducing new technology that it claims offers a better way to head off attacks than other intrusion-prevention products. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,93701,00.html - - - - - - - - - - HHS: RFID Will Thwart Drug Counterfeiting Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson praised mandatory moves toward bar codes on drugs at the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization Monday, but said additional technology could ensure greater safety. While bar codes can make sure that the right drug gets to the right patient at the right dose, RFID technology is the next logical step. RFID advances have made the technology cheap enough to be employed against counterfeit drugs, Thompson said. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1608453,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - 419ers open Chinese takeaway It's been a bit quiet recently on the 419 front. Well, not quiet exactly, because our inboxes are as plump as ever with mournful pleadings for assistance from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, etc, etc, etc. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. We haven't, however, yet seen proof that the Lads from Lagos have opened a Chinese franchise - until now. The following email is a long discourse, but worth the effort. It's evidence that someone, somewhere in Nigeria has finally got hold of an English dictionary. Not that they've quiet mastered it yet: look out for the tragic tale of Mr Robert Rice, who died "interstate". http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/08/chinese_419/ *********************************************************** 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. 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