NewsBits for July 20, 2004 ************************************************************ Three held on phreaking charge Eight people, including two Indians and a Bangladeshi, have been arrested for allegedly hacking into Philippines telecommunications systems to make unauthorised long- distance calls, officials say. The suspects, who include five Filipinos, were arrested in a series of raids in and around Manila over the weekend, immigration, police and military spokesmen said today. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/20/1090089145519.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/20/filipino_phone_phreakers/ http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39161042,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - $242m 419 scam trial collapses The trial of three 419ers accused of taking an employee of a Brazilian bank for $242m of his employers' cash has collapsed after the judge in the Nigerian capital Abuja said he had "no jurisdiction to hear it". Emmanuel Nwude, Mrs. Amaka Anajemba and Nzeribe Okoli were arrested on more than 86 counts and charged with "fraudulently obtaining through false pretence $242 million from one Nelson Sakaguehi [=Sakaguchi] and Stanton Development Corporation being the property of Banco Noroeste S. A. of Sao Paulo Brazil, purporting same to represent payment due to the Federal Government for the construction of the Abuja International Airport,"according to the Daily Times of Nigeria. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/20/419_trail_collapse/ Nigeria - the land where phone numbers can kill http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/20/nigerian_killer_numbers/ - - - - - - - - - - Net paedophile jailed for crimes A paedophile who molested a 13-year-old girl he met via the internet has been jailed for four-and-a-half years. Guy Evans, 35, of Cupar, Fife, picked up the teenager in Musselburgh, East Lothian, in his work's van after contacting her via an online chatroom. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3910631.stm - - - - - - - - - - Ex-head jailed over child porn A FORMER headteacher has been jailed for six months after admitting downloading child porn. Timothy Callaway, 43, taught at St Leonard's CofE Primary School in Streatham for eight years and was given a computer as a leaving gift by parents and pupils last summer. Police raided his home in Brooklands Road, Thames Ditton, Surrey, after an investigation in the United States turned up his name. http://icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0400lambeth/tm_objectid=14441672&method=full&siteid=50100&headline=ex-head-jailed-over-child-porn-name_page.html - - - - - - - - - - High flyer jailed for 'worst kind' of child porn A COMPUTER worker who downloaded pictures of child pornography of the worst kind has been sent to jail and lost PS70,000 of company share options in the process. Jailed for porn on PC Philip Farmer, 45, paid to view eight different child pornography sites on his home computer, storing and transferring some of the most vile images so he could go back to them time and time again. http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/story.asp?StoryID=58229 - - - - - - - - - - Lisle man had child porn A Lisle man who worked as an elementary school principal in Will County admitted Monday having child pornography on his personal computer. Bryan Carlson, 44, will be sentenced later this summer. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed not to seek more than a 100-day jail sentence. Police arrested Carlson, of 6021 Bend Drive, last October after investigating a complaint he posted sexually explicit images of young boys on the Internet from his home computer. http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3818838 - - - - - - - - - - Seattle lawyer arrested in FBI child porn sting The FBI arrested a 50-year-old labor lawyer from Seattle on accusations of soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet. Authorities say William Brook Knowles had been engaging in illicit online chats with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl from Portland, The Oregonian newspaper reported in Saturday's editions. The girl actually was Special Agent Joel Brillhart, a member of the FBI's Innocent Images task force. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/182588_sting17ww.html - - - - - - - - - - Former trooper returned to Montco to face child porn charges A former Pennsylvania state police trooper faces a preliminary hearing July 26 on charges he possessed child pornography on a computer at his parents' home in Skippack last September. John R. Mason Jr., 43, formerly of the 800 block of Mount Airy Road, was returned to Montgomery County this week from Greene County, where he had been held for a probation violation stemming from a previous conviction for possessing child porn, officials confirmed Friday. http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/9181456.htm - - - - - - - - - - Teacher may face child porn charges A Muscogee County school teacher accused of engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl while she was a student at Eddy Middle School eight years ago could face additional charges of child pornography, police said Saturday. Thomas Edward Chadwick, of Grenada Drive in Columbus, was released from the Muscogee County Jail Saturday afternoon after posting $10,000 in bonds. Chadwick, 48, pleaded innocent to one count of child molestation during a Recorder's Court hearing. The alleged victim in the case, now 22, said she chose to come forward after eight years because of what she found Thursday afternoon on Chadwick's home computer. http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/9181456.htm - - - - - - - - - - Net designer jailed over child porn AN internet page designer who was accessing child pornography was caught out by his boss who was suspicious he was working for someone else. Joseph James Hawcroft, 23, developed a morbid curiosity in child porn after he came across it accidently, it was claimed yesterday. He started downloading it at work and it soon became an obsession after he developed a grotesque fascination for paedophilia. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=14435201&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=net-designer-jailed-over-child-porn-name_page.html - - - - - - - - - - Ex-Buffalo city official charged in child porn case A former Buffalo, Minn., City Council member and mayoral candidate has been charged with possessing child pornography. Steven A. Tryggeseth, 51, was charged last week with 10 counts of possession of child pornography after a four-month police investigation found that the area Realtor had computer images and videos of minors involved in sex acts. http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4884049.html - - - - - - - - - - Child Porn Arrest Investigators are interviewing children from an East Texas daycare after the owner is arrested on child pornography charges. Police want to know if any of the children at the daycare were sexually abused. Police say they found the pornographic pictures on Jeffery Hardy's home computer. The same home where he and his wife run a daycare. The investigation began last month when Hardy participated in a chat room. Police say during that chat room conversation Hardy admitted to sexually abusing a young child that did not attend his daycare. http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=2060696&nav=2FH5OxQF - - - - - - - - - - School Bus Driver Ran Server For Child Sex Videos A school bus driver has been arrested on charges that he traded images of child pornography over the Internet. Warren Schwartz, 44, of Yonkers, maintained a server that held 325 video files and made them available to other computer users, U.S. Attorney David Kelley said in a news release. Schwartz allegedly advertised his collection in a chat room called 100%PreTeenGirlSexPics, offering to trade images of minors in sexually explicit acts. Kelley said the server had been patronized by people from 11 countries. http://www.wnbc.com/news/3550580/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Child porn GP lied to get park job A DOCTOR convicted of child porn offences got a job as a park warden at a Norfolk holiday camp after lying on his application, a medical tribunal heard today. Today, a spokesman for Hopton Holiday Village said Paul Hewish had been sacked on the spot when it was discovered he had missed out "vital information" on the application form. Hewish had failed to provide his employer with details of his previous convictions, a General Medical Council hearing was told yesterday. The GP was sentenced in August 2002 after he pleaded guilty to making indecent pseudo-images of a child and being in possession of indecent pictures of children. http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/News/story.asp?datetime=20+Jul+2004+12%3A18&tbrand=ENOnline&tCategory=NEWS&category=News&brand=ENOnline&itemid=NOED20+Jul+2004+12%3A20%3A02%3A703 - - - - - - - - - - C&W boss urged to help free jailed Net users in Maldives The chief exec of Cable & Wireless (C&W), Francesco Caio, has been asked personally to lobby authorities in the Maldives to help free jailed Internet users. In an open letter, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the French-based press freedom organisation, called on Caio to "put pressure on the Maldives authorities to end abusive Internet censorship and to press for the release of imprisoned Internet-users". http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/20/rsf_cw_maldives/ - - - - - - - - - - Bagle, Mydoom variants roil Internet New versions of the Bagle and Mydoom worms surfaced on the Internet yesterday, and they appear to be spreading. Bagle.AI and Mydoom.N use a built-in engine to send out masses of e-mails carrying worm- infected file attachments using faked sender addresses, antivirus companies said. The new worm variants are just the latest in a string of virus releases in recent days that have antivirus software companies scrambling to keep their customers protected. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,94636,00.html Bagle Variants Gaining Momentum http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Bagle-Variants-Gaining-Momentum&story_id=25949 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39161038,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - E-mail security problems reported at Los Alamos National Lab Security troubles continue at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where officials have confirmed that workers recently sent out an undisclosed number of classified e-mails over a nonsecure e-mail system. The new disclosure comes less than two weeks after the New Mexico-based lab announced that two removable computer disks containing classified nuclear weapons data were missing (see story). That incident represents at least the third time since 2000 that storage media containing classified information have been lost in the facility. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,94638,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Global Software Piracy Study Thirty-six percent of the software installed on computers worldwide was pirated in 2003, representing a loss of nearly $29 billion. The study, conducted for the first time by global technology research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), incorporated major software market segments including operating systems, consumer software and local market software. The study found that while $80 billion in software was installed on computers worldwide last year, only $51 billion was legally purchased. http://www.bsa.org/globalstudy/ Can Peer-to-Peer Stop Software Piracy? http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/04/07/wo_hellweg072004.asp - - - - - - - - - - AOL casts doubts on BT's child-porn protection Around 230,000 attempts to reach paedophilic Web content have been blocked by BT's Cleanfeed, but AOL says this content blocker may not be the answer While BT won headlines on Tuesday with the news that it had blocked almost a quarter of a million attempts to access child pornography over the Internet in the last couple of weeks, other Internet service providers have expressed reservations about BT's move. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39161185,00.htm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/21/npaed21.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/21/ixhome.html http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=827522004 http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39161059,00.htm Internet child porn growing http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040719/1017847.asp - - - - - - - - - - ATM keypads get a security boost Credit card companies are responding to a host of high and low-tech attacks on the sanctity of your ATM code. Behold the modern automated teller machine, a tiny mechanical fortress in a world of soft targets. But even with all those video cameras, audit trails, and steel reinforced cash vaults, wily thieves armed with social engineering techniques and street technology are still making bank. Now the financial industry is working to close one more chink in the ATM's armor: the humble PIN pad. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9161 - - - - - - - - - - Dell creates new security Web site for consumers Responding to what it called a pervasive problem for its consumers, Dell launched a new Web site (dell4me.com/security) Tuesday with information about online security issues such as spyware and viruses. Mike George, vice president and general manager of Dell's U.S. Consumer business, said the new site comes after a record number of calls from consumers having performance issues caused by online threats. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-07-20-dell-security-site_x.htm Dell wants to teach Web surfers a security lesson http://news.com.com/Dell+wants+to+teach+Web+surfers+a+security+lesson/2100-1009_3-5276639.html - - - - - - - - - - Bluesocket scans the spectrum for wardriving Security firm Bluesocket has launched a product that aims to protect an enterprise's wireless networks from unwanted visitors. Wireless-security firm Bluesocket launched a WLAN monitoring system on Tuesday that protects enterprises from unwanted wireless visitors. The product can also alert administrators if their network is being probed by a wardriver. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39161184,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Schoolboys create mobile seeker A mobile phone detector developed by a team of six New Zealand schoolboys has attracted international interest. The boys, pupils at St Thomas of Canterbury College in Christchurch, developed the cheap device as part of a business competition for school pupils. They have also had interest, and orders, from schools and universities in New Zealand. A mobile detector lets you know when phones are being used surreptitiously and can cost hundreds of pounds. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3890959.stm - - - - - - - - - - New breed of cyber criminals WWW became a field of rapidly growing e-business, a sphere of industrial sales and purchases, an international market ground where huge money circulates. The ball comes to the player: where the money is, there are scammers. Scammers of a new breed, generation: computer, technically skilful, well-equipped, resourceful and quick. According to some estimations, about 80% of all information in the Russian internet are "stolen". They steal domain names, web design, goods and photos directories, data bases in the whole and in parts, compiled software and its codes, logotypes, FAQs, slogans and so on, and so forth. http://www.crime-research.org/news/20.07.2004/499/ http://news.com.com/2010-1029-5275150.html - - - - - - - - - - More Mobile Viruses to Come? The virus, called Dust, or WinCE4.Dust, is aimed at Pocket PCs and smartphones. In order to run, the virus needs a mobile-compatible device running Microsoft's Windows CE operating system. It wasn't as though computer users didn't have enough to worry about these days; now thanks to a proof-of-concept worm released by the elite hacker group 29A, we can fret that our PCs might infect our Pocket PCs or vice versa. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=More-Mobile-Viruses-to-Come-&story_id=25952 - - - - - - - - - - We Built This City on Spam The anti-spam and spyware business has mushroomed into a cottage industry of its own, and despite some anticipated consolidation, it looks like there will be no shortage of work in the near future. USA Today reported that there will be some separating of sheep and goats in the anti-spam sector. "Today, 100 to 150 companies worldwide offer anti-spam products and services. By 2005's end, there could be about a dozen as consolidation sweeps a maturing industry and larger companies scramble for a piece of a billion-dollar market," the article said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63594-2004Jul20.html Anti-spam industry consolidating http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-07-20-spam_x.htm Hacking, downloading and bad Web design http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/20/letters_2007/ - - - - - - - - - - Cyberterrorism: fear factor For two months during 2000 he pumped hundreds of thousands of litres of raw sewage into public waterways north of Maroochydore. Engineer Vitek Boden, who had quit his job at Hunter Watertech - the supplier of Maroochy Shire's remote control and telemetry - was using his expertise to try to get a consulting job with the shire council to clean up the pollution he was causing. http://www.crime-research.org/analytics/501/ - - - - - - - - - - Tag, track, watch, analyse- UK goes mad on crime and terror IT Tech-happy UK Home Secretary David Blunkett was in his element announcing the Home Office's Strategic Plan yesterday. At multiple levels, starting with satellite tracking of repeat- and minor offenders and moving swiftly on through DNA databases and sundry terror- and immigrant-detection equipment, the plan proposes to harness new technology "to maximise key opportunities" and "stay ahead of the criminal." Sort of like the Jetsons with shackles. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/20/home_office_strategic_plan/ *********************************************************** 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.