NewsBits for August 23, 2004 ************************************************************ LAPD captain pleads no contest to selling pirated DVDs A Los Angeles police captain pleaded no contest to charges of selling counterfeit movie DVDs, authorities said. Suspended Capt. Julie D. Nelson, a 28-year veteran, entered her plea Friday. Because Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald reduced her piracy charges to misdemeanors, she might keep her job and pension. Nelson, 52, of the Orange County city of La Palma, was arrested Dec. 9 after investigators allegedly recovered hundreds of pirated DVDs in her home, car and office. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/9460175.htm - - - - - - - - - - Boss pleads guilty in counterfeit case After a case that has lasted for nearly three years, the head of a Kingston-upon-Thames-based VAR has pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying counterfeit goods. The boss of Kingston-upon-Thames-based VAR Brooks Holdings has pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying counterfeit Microsoft software. John Lowe was fined just under PS5,000 earlier this month after an appearance at Kingston Crown Court. The case has been ongoing for more than three years. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157540 - - - - - - - - - - Woman Indicted In Microsoft Counterfeiting Scheme The owner of a Middlesex County marketing company has been indicted on charges of counterfeiting the Microsoft trademark to sell bogus software products, the state Attorney General's Office announced Thursday. The indictment charges Di "Margaret" Li, 36, of East Brunswick with second-degree counterfeiting. Li owns and operates Morning Star International, a computer marketing and distribution business based in Edison. http://www.wnbc.com/money/3668956/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Ukraine: a scammer detained Law enforcement officers detained a man, 31, who has appropriated about 40,000 UAH ($9,000) using computer facilities and financial documents for several months. Police reported the scammer acted as a canvasser, came to shops, received accounts, and then presented counterfeit letters of authority to receive goods and copies of payment orders stamped by the bank. At that, he used names of real or fictitious local entrepreneurs. http://www.crime-research.org/news/23.08.2004/578/ - - - - - - - - - - Big German banks hit by phishing attacks Two of Germany's biggest banks became the latest victims of phishing attacks last week as internationally organized criminal groups search around the globe for new targets, according to a spokesman for Postbank AG. Postbank suffered its second phishing attack last Thursday, less than four weeks after the bank's first-ever assault, and was linked to a separate strike on Deutsche Bank AG. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,95429,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Meet the Peeping Tom worm A worm that has the capability to using webcams to spy on users is circulating across the Net. Rbot-GR, the latest variant of a prolific worm series, spreads via network shares, exploiting a number of Microsoft security vulnerabilities to drop a backdoor Trojan horse program on vulnerable machines as it propagates. Once a backdoor program is installed on a victim's PC it's game over and an attacker can do whatever takes their fancy. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/23/peeping_tom_worm/ http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5320592.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5799432/ - - - - - - - - - - Virus targets 64-bit Windows Virus writers have unleashed the first program that infects 64-bit Windows files, antivirus firm Symantec said Monday. The virus, dubbed W64.Shruggle by Symantec, seems mainly to be an experiment to test the concept of a 64-bit infecter and is not actively spread, said Alfred Huger, senior director of security at Symantec. "The most interesting thing about this is that virus writers are already developing for the 64-bit platform," he said. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5320803.html - - - - - - - - - - Army: JetBlue Data Use Was Legal An Army data-mining project that searched through JetBlue's passenger records and sensitive personal information from a data broker to pinpoint possible terrorists did not violate federal privacy law, according to an investigation by the Army's inspector general. Today's the Day. The inspector general's findings were accepted by some, but critics say the report simply highlights the inability of the country's privacy laws to cope with http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64647,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Justice Dept. takes P2P with 'grain of salt' A top Justice Department official on Monday took a swipe at one of the recording industry's favorite ideas: a law encouraging federal prosecutors to sue copyright infringers. Hewitt Pate, assistant attorney general for antitrust, expressed skepticism toward a bill called the Pirate Act that the Senate overwhelmingly approved in June. It's designed to curb peer-to-peer piracy by threatening individual infringers with civil lawsuits brought by the government. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5320748.html - - - - - - - - - - The Call Is Cheap. The Wiretap Is Extra. At first glance, it might seem like the simple extension of a standard tool in the fight against the bad guys. But in fact, wiretapping Internet phones to monitor criminals and terrorists is costly and complex, and potentially a big burden on new businesses trying to sell the phone service. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/23/technology/23wiretap.html Wiretaps may mute Nextel rivals http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5320606.html - - - - - - - - - - Anti-violence rules in effect at L.A. cybercafes Require curfew for minors, surveillance cameras A new city law designed to prevent violence at cybercafes quietly took effect Saturday, but authorities had no inspections planned to check for compliance with the tighter rules. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/08/22/regulating.cybercafes.ap/index.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9463357.htm - - - - - - - - - - Windows XP SP2 rollout to resume Wednesday After a nine-day postponement, Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday plans to start pushing out Windows XP Service Pack 2 to PCs running Windows XP Professional Edition. Taken off guard by the large number of business customers who rely on the Windows Automatic Updates feature for patches, Microsoft last week postponed automatic distribution of the mammoth service pack. http://computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/windows/story/0,10801,95430,00.html Windows Upgrade Causing Campus Headaches http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26111-2004Aug23.html New IE Flaw Also Affects Windows XP SP2 http://www.winnetmag.com/Article/ArticleID/43739/43739.html - - - - - - - - - - IBM dissects the DNA of spam IBM is applying ideas developed in sequencing DNA molecules to the detection of spam. Spammers have taken to inserting streams of gobbledegook or deliberately misspelling words in their spam messages in order the throw off anti-spam filters that rely on Bayesian statistical analysis alone. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/23/spam_or_ham/ Stopping spam at the source http://news.com.com/Stopping+spam+at+the+source/2100-1032_3-5316964.html - - - - - - - - - - Messaging spam heads for your PC As internet firms are doing all they can to combat junk e-mail, a new form of virtual irritation is emerging. Instant messaging is quick and easy to use Called "spim", it is similar in design to spam. But instead of attacking your inbox, it works through instant messaging (IM) services. It is thought that "spimmers" have developed the idea because of the attention-grabbing nature of IM, and the increasingly effective spam filters that specialist companies have developed. Research firm the Radicati Group estimates that 582 billion instant messages were sent in 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3581148.stm http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39164237,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Software maker exposes hidden data Workshare, a specialist in collaboration software built around Microsoft Office applications, is aiming to alert businesses to the danger of hidden data lurking in their documents. The company on Monday launched Metadatarisk.org, a Web site with information on the dangers posed by hidden metadata in documents. The site includes Metafind, a downloadable tool for automatically analyzing and exposing metadata in documents posted on a given Web site. "There's up to 25 different types of hidden metadata that exists in Microsoft documents," said Matthew Brown, Workshare product manager. "And the more documents get passed around, the bigger the risk becomes." http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5320006.html - - - - - - - - - - Detective fights online crime Armed with a computer, Byrd chases international crime scams from his desk at the Grand Prairie Police Department. It's definitely 21st-century police work. Swindlers, counterfeiters and other modern-day snake-oil salesmen use gullible intermediaries to fool naive online shoppers, Byrd said. A recent case, Byrd said, involved a 21-year-old Grand Prairie college student who responded to an online help-wanted ad and was offered a job by e-mail. http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/9466413.htm - - - - - - - - - - The first new program to Combat Child Pornography The Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) is expanding its initiative to combat child pornography through law enforcement support, deterrence, and user education programs. The DCIA is a trade association dedicated to the advancement of file sharing to benefit consumers as well as technology and entertainment companies. http://www.prnewswire.com/news/index_mail.shtml?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-22-2004/0002236444&EDATE= - - - - - - - - - - Cyber front has favorable bytes In a post-9/11 world, even the computers that run the Olympics have color-coded warnings for threats. "Green is good. Red is very bad," says Jean Chevallier, executive vice president of Atos Origin, Paris-based head of the Games' $400 million information system. In between are yellow (mild) and orange (more alarming). http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-08-22-hackers-kept-out_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Wi-Fi Plays Defense The new 802.11i wireless LAN security standard is a step forward, but Wi-Fi LANs still aren't impervious to attacks. Unbounded by the physical constraints of cabling and walls, wireless LANs have proved tricky to secure. Now that the long-awaited 802.11i standard for enhanced WLAN security has been ratified, can IT assume that WLANs have grown as secure as their cabled counterparts? Hardly. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,95411,00.html - - - - - - - - - - 5 ways to steer clear of online crime Steering clear of online theft and fraud usually takes little more than common sense something the average computer user often disregards once he or she is tucked behind the perceived safety and anonymity of a mouse, keyboard and modem. http://entertainment.news-leader.com/life/today/0823-5waystoste-161789.html - - - - - - - - - - Is security ripe for outsourcing? Security demands for online applications such as e-commerce and Web services are prompting more corporate customers to hand off security functions - such as intrusion detection and firewalls - to outside service providers. Users are finding that third-party security service providers can also help augment an internal security strategy by preparing reports required by many new government regulations. http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/082304outsecure.html - - - - - - - - - - Disposable RFID tags attract millions Brief: A Swedish firm that developed RFID tags that can be incorporated into paper has been given more than PS2m in funding. Sweden's Cypak, which has developed a throwaway radio-frequency identification tag, announced that the Swedish Industrial Development Fund has invested 30m kronor (PS2.2m) into the company. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/emergingtech/0,39020357,39164244,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Lawmakers seek incentives to reduce classification of information House lawmakers on Tuesday will begin trying to develop incentives to stop federal agencies from overclassifying material in an effort to improve information sharing across the government. The House National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations Subcommittee of the Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday to examine how the "excessive designation of official secrets" is an impediment to enhanced interagency and intergovernmental information sharing recommended by the 9/11 commission. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0804/082304c2.htm - - - - - - - - - - Police say prostitutes tracked them using computers Police departments use computers to catch criminals and log their arrests. Now, authorities say, prostitutes in Missouri are using the Internet to share information about undercover police officers. Even the commander of the St. Louis County vice squad, Rick Battelle, found his own cell phone number was listed. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-08-22-callgirls-track-cops_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.