NewsBits for August 27, 2004 ************************************************************ 150 arrested as US clamps down on cybercrime The US Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday reported that more than 150 individuals have been arrested as a result of a nationwide campaign directed at major forms of online economic fraud and other cyber-crimes. The ongoing action, known as Operation Web Snare, targets online economic crimes including identity theft, fraud, counterfeit software, computer intrusions, and other intellectual property crimes. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157669 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5832583/ http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,95526,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/27/operation_web_snare/ http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=DOJ-Gets-Tough-on-Cybercrime&story_id=26615 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=----Charged-in-Cybercrime-Sweep&story_id=26596 - - - - - - - - - - FBI busts alleged DDoS Mafia A Massachusetts businessman allegedly paid members of the computer underground to launch organized, crippling distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against three of his competitors, in what federal officials are calling the first criminal case to arise from a DDoS-for-hire scheme. Jay Echouafni, 37, is a fugitive from a five-count federal indictment in Los Angeles charging him with aiding and abetting computer intrusion and with conspiracy. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9411 - - - - - - - - - - Peterson trial turns to computers Testimony in Scott Peterson's murder trial returned to what investigators found in his computers as prosecutors try to prove Peterson researched the San Francisco Bay before dumping his pregnant wife's body there. Lydell Wall of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department testified in early August about search engine results on hard drives from computers seized from Peterson's home and office. http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/08/27/peterson.trial.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Priest to plead guilty to possessing child pornography According to federal court documents, the Rev. Matthew J. Kornacki, 57, will admit that he ordered computer disks containing images of children involved in sexual activity and that he had 150 images of child pornography on his personal laptop computer. A veteran Philadelphia Roman Catholic priest ensnared last year in a New York-based federal probe of child pornography will plead guilty tomorrow to a count of possession. http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/9483736.htm - - - - - - - - - - Government fires workers over Web porn Staff at the Department of Work and Pensions are alleged to have accessed two million pages of porn in the past year. The government has fired 19 civil servants and disciplined more than 200 in an unprecedented crackdown on viewing Internet porn at work, officials say. Breaking the story with a front-page headline "Ministry of Porn," The Sun said staff at the Department of Work and Pensions had accessed two million pages of Web porn in the last year and that one employee alone accessed 103,000 hardcore images. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/employment/0,39020648,39164768,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Finnish police expand snooping investigation An investigation into former TeliaSonera employees has been widened to cover allegations that they snooped on employee and customer emails. Police are widening an investigation into several former employees of Finland's TeliaSonera for allegedly using the telco's systems to violate the privacy of employees and customers. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39164858,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Phishing lures first German victims Two Postbank customers revealed money transfer codes to bogus Web sites, the bank has revealed Two clients of Germany's Postbank have fallen for an email fraud that led them to reveal money transfer codes to a bogus Web site -- the first case of this scam in German, prosecutors say. "There are two known cases now where transactions almost happened," said a spokeswoman of the state prosecutor in Bonn on Thursday. She declined to give more detail about where the investigation was heading: "We don't want to warn anybody," she said. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39164769,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Filipino mobe users scammed over virus scare Unscrupulous Filipino phone shops are cashing on recent stories about mobile phone viruses to flog worried punters services they don't need. A virus called Cabir (AKA Caribe) which targets mobile phones running the Symbian operating system and spreads via Bluetooth was discovered back in June. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/27/cell_phone_virus_scam/ - - - - - - - - - - Aussie PM hires firm to spam electorate Australian Prime Minister John Howard has admitted hiring his son's company to send party political emails to voters, which opponents says violates the spirit of the country's Spam Act. The government agency charged with policing Australia's anti-spam legislation has ruled out investigating a spamming scandal involving the Prime Minister, John Howard and his son, Tim Howard. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39164764,00.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/27/pm_spam_slam/ - - - - - - - - - - Spike Lee wins control of spikelee.com Movie director Spike Lee won control of the Internet domain name www.spikelee.com in a ruling released Friday by a United Nations body. An arbitrator from the World Intellectual Property Organization ordered the transfer of the domain name to the filmmaker, who had complained that it was being used illegally. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5842114/ http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/08/27/lee.cybersquat.reut/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-08-27-spike-lee_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Overcoming the Piracy Stigma in China Walk into the access-controlled room full of software developers at Bleum Inc.'s headquarters here and you can't miss the slogan written in large blue and black letters that stretches across the far wall: "Protect our customer." The message is there to serve as a constant reminder for Bleum's team of English-speaking software engineers of the importance of keeping clients' software code secure, said Eric Rongley, the outsourcing service provider's founder and CEO. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,95536,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Bosses fear employee fraud Fraud is now considered to be as big a threat as burglary, however many employers are failing to take the most basic precautions. Research carried out by financial advisers MacIntyre Hudson, shows that 38 per cent of employers questioned pointed to fraud as the single biggest threat to their business. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/27/employee_fraud/ Insiders, not crooks, still biggest security threat New research findings suggest that insiders - not gangs of cyber criminals - pose the biggest threat to financial service providers' systems and data. The Insider Threat Study, a joint initiative between the US Secret Service and Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute's CERT Coordination Center, is the first in a series of seven reports examining insider attacks on information and systems across a range of business areas. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157662 - - - - - - - - - - Credit bureaus shun weapon against identity theft Little by little, a weapon against identity theft is gaining currency but few people in the United States know about it. It's called the security freeze, and it lets individuals block access to their credit reports until they personally unlock the files by contacting the credit bureaus and providing a PIN code. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/infotheft/2004-08-27-id-theft-freeze_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Website offers Caller I.D. falsification service Overdue debtors beware: You may not be able to rely on Caller I.D. to screen out those annoying bill collectors much longer. A California entrepreneur has a plan to bring the hacker technique of Caller I.D. spoofing to the business world, beginning with collection agencies and private investigators. Slated for launch next week, Star38.com would offer subscribers a simple Web interface to a Caller I.D. spoofing system that lets them appear to be calling from any number they choose. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9419 - - - - - - - - - - ShadowStor keeps malicious server changes in the dark dowStor announced ShadowServer, which prevents accidental or malicious unwanted changes from being saved to a Windows NT, 2000 or 2003 server. ShadowServer joins a product line that also includes ShadowUser and ShadowSurfer for individual computers. ShadowServer tracks each system change and redirects it to managed free space on the disk. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1104_2-5327109.html - - - - - - - - - - Japanese banks choose vein-recognition security system Fujitsu Ltd. has commercialized a biometric security system based on vein pattern-recognition technology. The company has received orders from two Japanese banks, one of which is already using the technology. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,95545,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/27/palm_biometrics/ - - - - - - - - - - MP3 tool pulls satellite radio into piracy fight Catching Blondie's reunion tour broadcast at 4 in the morning wasn't an option for XM Satellite Radio subscriber and single father Scott MacLean. "I was missing concerts that were being broadcasted when I was asleep or out," he said. So the 35-year-old computer programmer from Ottawa, Ontario, wrote a piece of software that let him record the show directly onto his PC hard drive while he snoozed. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5327101.html - - - - - - - - - - Security Expectations, Response Rise in India A tall electric fence secures the perimeter of Wipro Technologies' main campus in Bangalore's Electronic City. Inside, just behind the sliding steel gates, is a checkpoint where security personnel issue photo-ID badges to all visitors. Card keys and biometric authentication devices control access to the various development centers in sleek buildings dotting the landscaped campus. Closed-circuit TVs provide constant surveillance. http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/outsourcing/story/0,10801,95533,00.html Indian IT execs face offshoring backlash http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,95537,00.html - - - - - - - - - - The polluted Internet I've spent a significant amount of time in New Delhi - which was, until a few years ago, one of the most polluted cities on the planet - and I've seen the effects of all those toxic fumes. A low cloud of fog lines the narrow streets at night, and the pollution seeps in through the windows while most people are fast asleep, breathing it in. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/27/polluted_internet/ - - - - - - - - - - Man Tries To Sell Vote On eBay It was a case of one man, one vote and one eBay offer to sell. An Elyria man, James Pengov, needed money for medical bills and offered on eBay to sell his vote. His offer was online just 12 hours before authorities were alerted and yanked it. Pengov says he didn't know that selling a vote is illegal. The California Secretary of State's office came across his posting and notified Ohio authorities. http://www.wnbc.com/technology/3685947/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Big Brother always watching in Britain The teenagers who stabbed wealthy Joao Da Costa Mitendele to death before burgling his home were careful to conceal the crime. They used a pretty girl to gain access to his apartment, where they wore rubber gloves while committing their crimes. What they hadn't counted on was the phalanx of video cameras that silently watched and recorded them leaving the local subway station, buying those gloves and approaching 45-year-old Mitendele's apartment in suburban north London. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/9515392.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.