NewsBits for July 2, 2004 ************************************************************ Editor's Note - NewsBits will not be published on Monday, July 5, 2004 due to the Independance Day holiday in the US. Normal distribution will resume Tuesday, July 6, 2004 RJL ************************************************************ Phantom phone scam hits another village Another village in the East of England has been targeted by premium rate crooks after they apparently gained "illicit access" to BT's phone network. West Wickham in Cambridgeshire was targeted in May leaving some 20 or so homes stung by premium rate charges that residents insist were not made by them. A victim told The Register: "We were charged for PS86 of calls made between 11.30pm and 1.00am when we were in bed. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/bt_west_wickham/ - - - - - - - - - - Charges Filed in Scheme to Sell Military Technology to China Federal prosecutors charged seven people in a scheme to sell prohibited military technology to China, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The seven, who work for two companies in Mount Laurel, were arrested Thursday morning, said Greg Reinert, a spokesman for the office. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22779-2004Jul2.html - - - - - - - - - - Supreme Court: First Amendment Covers Online Porn Though few would argue that children should be protected from exposure to Internet pornography, COPA, the law designed to protect them has been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. COPA's reach would have gone far beyond its intended purpose. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Child Online Protection Act , passed during the Clinton Administration, violates the First Amendment because it would restrict the free-speech rights of adults to see and buy porn over the Internet. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Supreme-Court--First-Amendment-Covers-Online-Porn&story_id=25722 http://www.crime-research.org/news/02.07.2004/465/ http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,94293,00.html - - - - - - - - - - McAfee: New Lovegate worm spreading A new version of the Lovegate worm has begun infecting computers worldwide, including those belonging to several Fortune 500 companies, according to a statement from antivirus firm McAfee Inc. Like its predecessors, Lovegate.ad@MM is a mass-mailing worm that spreads through e-mail and network file sharing and by exploiting a previously disclosed vulnerability in the remote procedure call interface in multiple Windows versions. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/virus/story/0,10801,94290,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft releases security update to block new virus transmitters Microsoft Corp. issued an interim security update Friday to protect users of its nearly ubiquitous Internet Explorer browsers from a new technique for spreading viruses. The update does not entirely fix the flaw that makes the spread possible, but it changes settings in Windows operating systems to disable hackers' ability to deliver malicious code with it. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9066643.htm http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/26490-1.html http://news.com.com/Microsoft+posts+work-around+for+IE+flaw/2100-1002_3-5256297.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5352495 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Microsoft-Issues-Update-To-Fix-IE-Vulnerabilities&story_id=25717 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/ie_vuln_workaround/ Security risks swell for Microsoft's Explorer http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-07-01-cyber-threat_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Massachusetts files suit under Can-Spam The Massachusetts Attorney General's office has filed suit against a Florida man suspected of sending spam e-mail to thousands of consumers, in what's considered to be the first claim brought by a state under the federal Can-Spam Act. On Thursday, the state's attorney general, Thomas Reilly, filed a complaint against a business known as DC Enterprises, and its reported proprietor, William T. Carson, for allegedly distributing bulk e-mail that advertised inexpensive mortgage rates. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5255997.html - - - - - - - - - - Google sued over Orkut bug replication feature Google's Orkut code is stolen, says the company that its eponymous author founded and left. A lawsuit filed by Affinity Engines, co-founded by Orkut Buyukkokten, claims that there are nine unique bugs in the codebase, and that's too much to be a coincidence. Buyukkokten is a Stanford graduate and developed the social networking code for Stanford alumini, founding a company to develop it commercially before joining Google. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/google_orkut_lawsuit/ - - - - - - - - - - Kazaa copyright trial set for November Sharman Networks, the parent company of controversial file-sharing service Kazaa, could face the music by the end of the year following an Australian federal court ruling. On Thursday, Justice Murray Wilcox set a tentative trial date of Nov. 29 and said that directed discovery and affidavit proceedings should be completed by October. Wilcox also dismissed a range of procedural matters that had been raised by Sharman Networks regarding access to evidence seized from its offices and from affiliated parties earlier this year. http://news.com.com/Kazaa+copyright+trial+set+for+November/2100-1027_3-5255741.html - - - - - - - - - - Info site unpicks Information Act Public authorities can prepare for the forthcoming Freedom of Information Act at a Web site that details what the public will be able to request. The UK Department for Constitutional Affairs has launched a website to help public authorities prepare for the Freedom of Information Act. The site was launched on 1 July, 2004, less than 130 working days before the act comes into force. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39159405,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Enforcement is key to fighting cybercrime Analysis The publication of a review of Britain's cybercrime laws by an influential group of MPs and peers this week has been welcomed by the IT industry. Broad agreement with the All Party Internet Group's (APIG) conclusion that the Computer Misuse Act 1990 needs only minor reforms have been matched with widespread calls for tougher enforcement action against cybercriminals. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/cma_reform_analysis/ - - - - - - - - - - Spammers face tri-nation crackdown The UK government has joined forces with the US and Australia to fight the growing problem of spam. An agreement brokered by the three nations will see law enforcement authorities co-operate in nitiatives to track down and prosecute spammers. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1156374 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/anti-spam_pact/ http://computerworld.com/softwaretopics/software/groupware/story/0,10801,94292,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Hollywood's Internet Avenger? The former Democratic congressman and Clinton administration Cabinet member is the new top lobbyist at Hollywood's primary trade group. He replaces outgoing Motion Picture Association of America veteran Jack Valenti to take the helm of a group facing a serious threat to its members' bottom lines -- Internet piracy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22951-2004Jul2.html Studios eye new anti-piracy technology to guard awards screeners http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9068782.htm - - - - - - - - - - HP issues apocalyptic Netscape HP-UX warning HP has put out a red alert for users of the Netscape browser on HP-UX, saying this software pairing could result in no less than total destruction. HP customers have been strongly urged to remove Netscape and install Mozilla on HP-UX 11, 11.11, 11.22 and 11.23. The continued use of Netscape on HP's operating system could result in "denial of service attacks, information leaks, unauthorized access and remote unauthorized code execution." Not a pleasant list. Along with its warning, HP has dropped support Netscape on HP-UX. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/02/hp_netscape_mozilla/ - - - - - - - - - - Growing pains for next Net A vulnerability discovered in some of Juniper Networks' routing software highlights that thenext-generation Internet, known as Internet Protocol version 6, still has a ways to go before it will be ready for widespread adoption. The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team and Secunia, a security advisory company, issued alerts Wednesday for Juniper M-series and T-series routers built between Feb. 24 and June 20 that are running IPv6. http://news.com.com/Growing+pains+for+next+Net/2100-1033_3-5256010.html - - - - - - - - - - Japanese bank offers 'biosecurity' account A Japanese bank on Friday launched a biosecurity account, the holders of which can only conduct transactions once they have proved their identity -- by showing the pattern of veins on their palms. Suruga Bank Ltd. introduced the system because vein patterns on human hands are very difficult to forge, said bank spokeswoman Yoshie Yamaguchi. Suruga hopes the new measure will prevent illegal cash withdrawals by people posing as account holders. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9066667.htm - - - - - - - - - - Survey: Digital rights management about to boom Protecting email and digital documents against loss and theft will be big business during the next five years, according to JupiterResearch. The market for software that protects private data is expected to grow to $274m (PS151m) by 2008, from $36m in 2003, market-research company JupiterResearch predicted on Thursday. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39159407,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Derail E-Mail Snooping IMAGINE THAT your friendly local mail carrier, before delivering a letter for you, decides to steam it open and read its contents. An outrageous and illegal infringement on your privacy, obviously. But a federal appeals court in Boston has just permitted an Internet service provider to engage in exactly this kind of snooping when the message is sent in cyberspace rather than by snail mail. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22198-2004Jul1.html - - - - - - - - - - China steps up surveillance, targeting mobile phone messaging Chinese authorities plan to employ new technology to improve surveillance of mobile phone messages amid efforts to intensify the policing of private communications, reports said Friday. The official Xinhua News Agency said the campaign was aimed at cleaning up ``pornographic, obscene and fraudulent'' phone messages that have ``infiltrated short messaging content.'' http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9068066.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3859403.stm *********************************************************** 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.