NewsBits for August 19, 2004
************************************************************
Retired judge pleads guilty to child porn charge
A retired judge facing 14 felony child-pornography
counts has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge,
and authorities say he will likely face three years'
probation. Paul Miles, 80, of Medina, will probably
have to register as a sex offender, said Orleans
County District Attorney Joseph Cardone. Miles was
accused of downloading and printing pornography from
the Internet. The material was found in a trash bin
near a business in the Medina area.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040819/NEWS01/408190332
- - - - - - - - - -
In child-porn sweep, hospital's pediatric chief pleads guilty
A former chief of pediatric medicine caught in
a sweeping Internet child-pornography crackdown
pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing dozens of
sexually explicit images of children on his home
computer. Dr. Julius Goepp, 46, who worked in
Strong Memorial Hospital's emergency unit until
his arrest on May 12, will be sentenced to 27
months to 33 months in prison under the plea
deal, federal prosecutor Richard Resnick said.
Sentencing was set for Nov. 3.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--pediatrician-chil0817aug17,0,1604133.story
- - - - - - - - - -
Man Arrested in Kentucky for Allegedly Raping a Child
An Alabama man is facing charges of rape in Louisville,
Kentucky. Barry Douglas Shutt of Hartselle is accused
of raping a 12-year-old he met over the Internet.
Shutt was arrested Saturday and charged with rape,
sodomy, and tampering with physical evidence. The
girl told police she had sex with an Alabama man
she had been corresponding with over the Internet.
She led them to the Louisville hotel where shutt
was staying.
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=2188763
- - - - - - - - - -
Milford man facing child pornography charges
A Milford man who has been serving a child
pornography conviction in Florida is back
in the state to face similar charges. Bond
was set at $1 million Wednesday for Lawrence
Fulgieri, who police believe victimized children
in Fairfield and New Haven counties. Fulgieri,
31, had a massive collection of child pornography
on his home computer and admitted having sex
with two teenage boys, one from Stratford and
one from Wallingford, police said.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--pornarrest0819aug19,0,3155267,print.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
- - - - - - - - - -
$50,000 Bond On Clay Teacher Charged With Child Porn
A teacher at Clay County schools for the past 15
years is in federal custody, facing charges he
possessed and distributed sexually-explicit pictures
of children. John McIntyre John McIntyre, 40,
appeared before a federal magistrate Tuesday
afternoon on charges of possession and distribution
of child pornography. McIntyre could be released
on bond if he posts $50,000 and meets a list of
other conditions. Agents said McIntyre sent images
of children engaging in sexual activity to an
undercover agent in an Internet chat room. After
his arrest, agents found more than 1,000 sexually
explicit images of minors, mostly young boys,
on his computer.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/3661067/detail.html
- - - - - - - - - -
Child sex abuse suspect released to father
A Shaler man kept a Web camera underneath his
computer in the room where his two young children
played so he could send real time pornographic
images of his 4-year-old daughter to his Internet
buddies, according to testimony yesterday in federal
court. After a detention hearing, a magistrate judge
released the man on $100,000 bond but ordered him to
stay at his father's house in Butler. He will not be
allowed to leave there without a court order.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04218/356976.stm
- - - - - - - - - -
South Pole 'cyberterrorist' hack wasn't the first
It's a tale Tom Clancy might have written.
From their lair in distant Romania, shadowy cyber
extortionists penetrate the computers controlling
the life support systems at a Antarctic research
station, confronting the 58 scientists and
contractors wintering over at the remote post
with the sudden prospect of an icy death. After
some twists and turns, the researchers are saved
in the fourth act by an international law enforcement
effort led by FBI agents wielding a controversial,
but misunderstood, federal surveillance law.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9356
- - - - - - - - - -
Judges rule file-sharing software legal
A federal appeals court has upheld a controversial
court decision that said file-sharing software
programs such as Grokster or Morpheus are legal.
Following the lead of a lower-court decision last
year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in
Los Angeles said on Thursday that peer-to-peer
software developers were not liable for any
copyright infringement committed by people using
their products, as long as they had no direct
ability to stop the acts.
http://news.com.com/Judges+rule+file-sharing+software+legal/2100-1032_3-5316570.html
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,64640,00.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/19/p2p_lives_on/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5762021/
- - - - - - - - - -
Hackers revive iTunes music sharing
A group of anonymous programmers has released
new software that allows music to be swapped via
Apple Computer's popular iTunes jukebox. Like an
older piece of software called MyTunes, the newly
released OurTunes allows a person to browse
complete iTunes libraries on other computers and
download songs, either in MP3 or the AAC format
preferred by Apple. Songs purchased from the
iTunes music store and wrapped in Apple's
copy-protection technology cannot be traded.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5316700.html
- - - - - - - - - -
Phishermen release DIY con kits
Do-it-yourself phishing kits are starting to appear
online, making it easier for amateurs to try their
hand at email fraud. Some Web sites are now offering
surfers the chance to download free "phishing kits"
containing all the graphics, Web code and text
required to construct the kind of bogus Web sites
used in Internet phishing scams.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39164115,00.htm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/19/diy_phishing/
- - - - - - - - - -
NIST makes lists
A program that experts have said is the missing
piece in federal efforts to promote secure computing
will be ready later this year. Officials at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology
announced that a security configuration checklists
program for information technology products,
including a logo that vendors can put on their
wares, is on track for completion before the
end of 2004.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0816/web-nist-08-19-04.asp
Report urges defense to help with domestic technologies
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081904tdpm1.htm
- - - - - - - - - -
Cisco flaw opens networks to attacks
Cisco has warned in a security advisory that some
networks with its routers could be vulnerable to
denial-of-service attacks. The problem is in the
processing of packets sent to a Cisco router that
has been configured for the Open Shortest Path
First (OSPF) protocol, the company said in a
security advisory released Wednesday. If the router
receives a malformed packet, it will take a while
to reset. Attackers could flood networks with
packets that cause routers to constantly reboot.
The flaw is limited to versions 12.0S, 12.2 and
12.3 of Cisco's Internetwork Operating System
routing software.
http://news.com.com/Cisco+flaw+opens+networks+to+attacks/2100-7355_3-5316500.html
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39164110,00.htm
- - - - - - - - - -
HP to deliver vulnerability scanning service by year's end
Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to deliver a new
security vulnerability scanning and remediation
service by the end of the year that is designed
to help companies identify and fix weak spots
on their corporate networks, a senior company
executive said this week.
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,95361,00.html
- - - - - - - - - -
Is Upgrading to Windows XP SP2 Worthwhile?
Users of Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition are
scheduled to begin receiving Service Pack 2 via
automatic update starting today. But delivery of
the Professional Edition has been delayed at least
a week while Microsoft and its users grapple with
compatibility problems.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Is-Upgrading-to-Windows-XP-SP--Worthwhile-&story_id=26391
Security Flaws Found in SP2
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117452,00.asp
Microsoft downplays XP SP2 flaw claims
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157459
- - - - - - - - - -
Number crunching boffins unearth crypto flaws
Cryptographic researchers have discovered
weaknesses in the encryption algorithms that
underpin the security and integrity of electronic
signatures. The issue concerns hash functions -
one way mathematical functions that produce
a small fixed length string from a much longer
message. This is sometimes called a message
digest. When two different input values produce
the same output value this is called a collision.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9363
- - - - - - - - - -
Punishment fails to fit the cybercrime
Why does creating a virus carry lighter penalties
than marijuana offences? Jeffrey Lee Parson pleaded
guilty last week to unleashing part of the MSBlast
worm attack that wreaked havoc on the Internet a
year ago. He got off easy. Federal prosecutors
predictably touted Parson's guilty plea as an
example for other would-be vandals. John McKay,
the US Attorney for Seattle, proclaimed: "The
damage to individual computer users is very
real, and the penalties are also very real."
http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/declanmccullagh/0,39020670,39164002,00.htm
- - - - - - - - - -
Valuing Secure Access to Personal Information
Securing data is not a simple endeavor; a multi-
discipline, defense-in-depth approach is necessary,
as information can leak at any point in the
communication process, from receipt, through
storage, retrieval, transmission, and so on.
Furthermore, each information system element
is vulnerable to loss, including hardware,
software, and personnel. Add to this the
exceptional efforts made by those who want
to acquire information through illicit means,
whether for espionage, criminal, political,
mischievous, or other intent...someone is always
trying gain access to information they shouldn't
have.
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1797
- - - - - - - - - -
Infected In Twenty Minutes
What normally happens within twenty minutes?
That's how long your average unprotected PC
running Windows XP, fresh out of the box, will
last once it's connected to the Internet. It's
interesting to ponder just how much time - in
hours, in minutes, sometimes in mere seconds -
it takes for a disaster to occur. The space
shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after
liftoff in 1986.
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/262
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157428
- - - - - - - - - -
SMS spoofing -- How long has it existed?
This kind of high tech felony exists for
a relatively short time. It is a "new lingo in
cybercrime". But it might have a horrifying future.
How is the spoofing carried out? What does an
individual need? SMS spoofing became possible
after many mobile/cellular operators had integrated
their network communications with/in the Internet.
So anybody could send SMS from the Internet using
forms at the websites of mobile operators or even
through e-mail. Unfortunately, I won't break you
in telling that there's no perfect security, it
is only defined by the level of sophisticated
technical arms of malefactors.
http://www.crime-research.org/news/19.08.2004/572/
- - - - - - - - - -
Who guards your company email?
Unless IT and HR work together, the security gap
will not close. Each week vnunet.com asks a
different expert to give their views on recent
security issues, with advice, warnings and
information on the latest threats. This week
Kevin Butler, technical manager at Allasso,
stresses the importance of IT and HR working
together to control the use of email at work.
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157458
- - - - - - - - - -
Panel hears views on biometric passports, other ideas
U.S. citizens should not be exempt from carrying
biometric passports or other means of verifying
their identities, former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.,
said Thursday in his capacity as vice chairman
of the panel that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/081904tdpm2.htm
- - - - - - - - - -
Database snafu puts US Senator on terror watch list
US Senator Ted Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts)
was prohibited from flying because his name sparked
a terror alert, the Associated Press reports.
Apparently, the Senator's name came up on a terrorist
watch list, or no-fly list, while attempting to board
a US Airways shuttle out of Washington. A vigilant
airline clerk refused to allow Kennedy to board.
After numerous phone calls, the Senator did manage
to get home to Boston, but the same comedy ensued
as he attempted to return to Washington, the wire
service says.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/19/senator_on_terror_watch/
- - - - - - - - - -
Being told to brush-off via email
Attention, ladies: If that guy hitting on you just
won't quit until you surrender your e-mail address,
feel free to call upon Paper Napkin. Billed as an
e-mail rejection service, Paper Napkin will tell
your persistent suitor to buzz off when he comes
calling electronically.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5758726/
***********************************************************
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.