NewsBits for June 23, 2004 ************************************************************ Two charged with selling 92 million AOL screen names An America Online software engineer stole a list of 92 million customer screen names that was eventually used to send massive amounts of e-mail spam, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Jason Smathers, 24, was arrested at his home in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., and was charged with conspiracy. Smathers, working at AOL offices in Dulles, Va., stole the list and sold it to a Las Vegas man, Sean Dunaway, who used it to promote an Internet gambling operation and sold it to spammers, a criminal complaint said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8994846.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/24/aol_spam_insider/ http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-23-aol_x.htm http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,63970,00.html http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/23/technology/aol_spam/index.htm http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279826/ - - - - - - - - - - 15 Charged in Music Piracy Crackdown In a warning to those who deal in counterfeit compact discs, Los Angeles officials said Tuesday that recent police sweeps had led to criminal charges being filed against 15 people for selling pirated music, including four vendors this month. Police officers, some of whom worked undercover, seized 3,902 pirated CDs and more than 1,000 illegally copied DVDs in the arrests since January. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279826/ http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-pirate23jun23,1,5662602.story U.S. Senate bill targets Internet song-swapping http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/23/tech.peertopeer.reut/index.html RIAA sues 482 more unnamed file-sharers http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/23/riaa_sues_482/ http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=RIAA-Sues-----More-File-Sharers-in-Anti-Piracy-Onslaught&story_id=25532 http://www.vnunet.com/news/1156127 - - - - - - - - - - Spanish police smash 35m dialer scam Spanish police have arrested five men in connection with what appears to be the biggest Internet dialler fraud in history. More than 45,000 victims lost a stunning 35m to the scam, Spanish newspapers report. The five scammers operated out of Madrid and Pontevedra in Galicia. The team, all men, and most in their mid-thirties, created over 150 Web pages filled with music, cars and pornography. When victims visited these sites, a premium rate dialler was installed on their PCs. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/23/spain_dial_scam/ - - - - - - - - - - Brits hit by surge in phone-charge Net fraud The number of British Internet users claiming to have fallen victim to premium-rate phone charge fraud has risen sharply, according to industry regulators. ICSTIS, which regulates premium rate numbers in the United Kingdom, has been forced to call in the country's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit after being hit with a surge in fraud complaints. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5245078.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39158412,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Authorities use mobile lab against online pedophiles Texas authorities have gone mobile in their battle against Internet surfers using chat rooms to set up illegal sexual liaisons with underage girls. Seven men were indicted Wednesday after authorities using a new van equipped with high-speed wireless satellite computer devices, arrested them in Huntsville for arranging to have sex with what they thought were 13- or 14-year-old girls they contacted online. The underage girls really were state investigators. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8995341.htm - - - - - - - - - - Judge grants preliminary injunction against spyware law A judge has agreed to temporarily block enforcement of a Utah law that aims to ban so-called spyware. The preliminary injunction remains in effect pending the outcome of a New York pop-up ad company's challenge to the law's constitutionality. Third District Judge Joseph C. Fratto Jr. ruled Tuesday that WhenU.com Inc. proved that it would have sustained irreparable harm had the spyware law gone into effect. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8993277.htm http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,94046,00.html When Spyware Crosses the Line http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/250 Spammers use spyware to improve hit rates http://www.vnunet.com/news/1156114 - - - - - - - - - - MPs urged to overhaul Computer Misuse Act The Computer Misuse Act -- which became law many years before the Internet entered the mainstream -- is a failure and needs a major overhaul, according to some analysts. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39158413,00.htms - - - - - - - - - - 'Unreal' critical flaw lets in attackers A security hole in a common piece of game software lets hackers execute code on vulnerable machines. A security researcher warned on Tuesday of a "critical" flaw in a widely used piece of game software that could let attackers take over vulnerable PCs. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39158401,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Beastie Boys CD installs virus A new Beastie Boys' CD called "To the Five Boroughs" (Capitol Records), is raising hackles around the Web for reputedly infecting computers with a virus. According to a recent thread at BugTraq, an executable file is automatically and silently installed on the user's machine when the CD is loaded. The file is said to be a driver that prevents users from ripping the CD (and perhaps others), and attacks both Windows boxen and Macs. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/23/beastie_boy_cd_virus/ - - - - - - - - - - Feds urge secrecy over network outages Giving the public too many details about significant network service outages could present cyberterrorists with a "virtual road map" to targeting critical infrastructures, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which this month urged regulators to keep such information secret. At issue is an FCC proposal that would require telecom companies to report significant outages of high-speed data lines or wireless networks to the commission. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/8966 - - - - - - - - - - PCs take more sick days than their users Survey: The average PC is 'sick' for more days annually because of virus infection and spam overload than the average human, according to Yahoo Mail. The average UK PC is rendered unusable for the equivalent of around nine working days every year because the owner is cleaning up spam or fighting viruses. This is two days a year more than the average UK worker takes off as sick leave, according to Yahoo. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39158478,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Wi-Fi Security Standard Nears Approval Sources said the draft specification is on the agenda to be ratified this week as part of an IEEE-SA standards committee meeting in Piscataway, N.J. One source said that although a vote on the proposed specification is not guaranteed, a decision to end the three-year standards process is likely. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1738&ncid=1293&e=10&u=/zd/20040622/tc_zd/130056 http://news.com.com/New+security+spec+could+shore+up+Wi-Fi/2100-7351_3-5245793.html - - - - - - - - - - DISA buys DigitalNet vulnerability testing software The Defense Information Systems Agency has issued a task order, worth up to $6 million, to DigitalNet Inc. of Bethesda, Md., to provide a set of advanced information assurance applications. This award will represent one of the largest deployments of vulnerability management software anywhere in the world, said Firas Raouf, chief operating officer for vulnerability software provider eEye Digital Security of Aliso Viejo, Calif., which will work with DigitalNet. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/26330-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft to increase Hotmail storage, add virus protection Microsoft Corp.'s Hotmail will become the latest Web-based e-mail service to increase the amount of storage space available for its free accounts, following similar moves by rivals. Beginning later this summer, the company plans to increase the amount of storage for its free Hotmail account inboxes to 250 megabytes, up from two megabytes. Users also will be able to send larger attachments, up to 10 megabytes. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8995355.htm Firm sweetens Mac virus tool, but will Apple-ites bite? http://news.com.com/Firm+sweetens+Mac+virus+tool%2C+but+will+Apple-ites+bite%3F/2100-7355_3-5245399.html - - - - - - - - - - More airlines gave out passenger data More airlines than previously disclosed gave personal data on passengers to the government for testing a computerized background-check project, acting Transportation Security Administration chief David Stone said Wednesday. Passenger data was obtained from at least two computerized reservation systems, Sabre and Galileo International, and from four more airlines than previously revealed: Delta, Continental Airlines, America West Airlines and Frontier Airlines, Stone said. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279660/ - - - - - - - - - - Progress Report for Net Censors For voicing his opinion online, 40-year-old activist Du Daobin was charged with subversion earlier this month and sentenced to four years of house arrest, becoming one of more than 60 cyberdissidents currently detained by the Chinese government. "We have the legal right to overthrow this government," he wrote in a column that was published in The Epoch Times, an independent publication featuring news from China. "Democratic countries also encourage us to become a modern, civilized government and eliminate the barbaric dictatorial government." http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,63940,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Al Qaida websites blocked Several Internet websites of the terrorist network "Al Qaida" are blocked after liquidation of their commander Al Mugrin and his three accomplices, Saudi newspaper Al Jazeera informed Monday. According to the cited announcement of law enforcement, police seized computer facilities, CD-ROMs, software and a huge archive besides seized weapons. Police said terrorists always carried this archive with them in cars. http://www.crime-research.org/news/23.06.2004/443/ Terrorists and the Internet When militants used to want to make a point, they would send faxes or videotapes to international news agencies. But now, al Qaida is putting its graphic messages and images straight up on the webwith maximum effect. Technology has become their latest weapon in their Holy War, particularly free Internet websites, chatrooms, CD burners and DVDs. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5279657/ - - - - - - - - - - Tougher bill clears hurdle for data on sex offenders A watershed bill that would post on the Internet the names, photos and crimes of California's 85,000 registered sex offenders -- and also add home addresses for thousands who have committed the most serious crimes, particularly against children -- eked out enough votes Tuesday to emerge from a key committee. The update of Megan's Law, written by Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Bakersfield, was expected to face its toughest test in the Senate Public Safety Committee, which is dominated by left-leaning, civil libertarian Democrats. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/8990627.htm - - - - - - - - - - Police at Logan to use wireless database State troopers at Logan International Airport will be able to use a handheld wireless device to search a vast database of information about people they are investigating. Officials at LocatePLUS Holdings Corp. said troopers could use a Blackberry wireless device to search the company's database, which contains billions of online public records. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/data/2004-06-23-wireless-troopers_x.htm *********************************************************** 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.