NewsBits for October 29, 2004 ************************************************************ 28 Identity Theft Suspects Arrested in Transatlantic Sting Law enforcement authorities on both sides of the Atlantic have arrested 28 people on suspicion of operating Web sites that were allegedly designed to steal, sell and forge credit cards and identification documents. "Operation Firewall" targeted 21 suspects in the United States and seven others in six nations who allegedly are responsible for running Web sites that investigators said served as online bazaars for hackers and identity thieves. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7614-2004Oct28.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/operation_firewall/ http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39171958,00.htm http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39171937,00.htm http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Secret-Service-Nabs----in-Online-Fraud-Sting&story_id=27997 http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,97017,00.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6358573/ http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/infotheft/2004-10-29-id-theft-charges_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Man gets probation after admitting to Net stalking A South Carolina man who pleaded guilty to two counts of breaking a federal Internet stalking law was sentenced Friday to five years of probation, 500 hours of community service and more than $12,000 in restitution. James Robert Murphy, 38, of Columbia, S.C., admitted sending dozens of e-mails and faxes to Seattle city employee Joelle Ligon, who broke up with him about 14 years ago. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2004-10-29-net-stalker-chided_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Former Burlington Man Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charges A former Burlington man faces up to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges. Christopher Hoppe, 45, pleaded guilty Wednesday to 12 counts of possessing child porn. A criminal complaint said investigators found about 1,500 potentially pornographic shots of children when they seized a computer from Hoppe's Burlington home two years ago. http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/3868945/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - German police tip ends in child porn arrest here A tip from police in Germany led to the arrest of a 27-year-old Buffalo man on child pornography charges Wednesday. Michael R. Kemp of Delaware Avenue was arrested by agents from the Homeland Security Department, following allegations that he was using the Internet to send and receive images of children being sexually molested. German National Police provided a lead earlier this year about a man who was offering to send images of a 7-year-old girl to people who visited pornographic chat rooms, Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin J. Littlefield said. A check of e-mail addresses led agents to Kemp. http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20041028/3062001.asp - - - - - - - - - - Nintendo: Seattle-area piracy case tip of the iceberg In response to a lawsuit filed by Nintendo of America, a federal judge on Friday temporarily barred sales of counterfeit video-game hardware and software at kiosks in area malls. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour also ordered seizure of the materials. He agreed Redmond-based Nintendo would suffer immediate and irreparable harm loss of income and goodwill, and reduced value of company trademarks if the defendants continued importing and selling the pirated products http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-10-29-nintendo-piracy-busts_x.htm. - - - - - - - - - - RIAA targets 963 alleged file-traders The Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) this week filed almost 1000 lawsuits this week, all of them accusing individuals of sharing unauthorised copies of songs on P2P networks. Some 750 people are unnamed, with 213 more citing alleged copyright infringers' names. The latter had all received demands to cease their activities and make some remuneration for their acts, but in each case the deadline for settlement had passed, the RIAA said. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/riaa_sues_963/ http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39171941,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Bagle variant outstrips Google-bashing worm A new variant of the Bagle email worm is spreading rapidly across the internet today. Email filtering firm BlackSpider Technologies reports that it was blocking 2000 copies of Bagle-AT an hour since its first appearance earlier this morning. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/bagle_zafi_email_worms/ http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Bagle-Evades-News-Cycle--Spreads-Across-Europe&story_id=28026 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/wormsviruses/2004-10-29-big-bagles_x.htm New Bagle virus declares cyber war http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159052 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5432334.html Massed bagles launch their attack http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39172109,00.htm Bagle.AT virus is no joke http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39171945,00.htm Lurking threats cast shadow on Net http://news.com.com/Lurking+threats+cast+shadow+on+Net/2009-7349_3-5221864.html Antivirus companies warn of new Bagle variants http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/virus/story/0,10801,97048,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Gmail accounts 'wide open to exploit' - report Google's high profile webmail service, Gmail, is vulnerable to a security exploit that might allow hackers full access to a user's email account simply by knowing the user name, according to reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/gmail_vuln/ http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19366 - - - - - - - - - - California lawmakers rip handling of data theft at university Four members of the California state assembly are pressuring the state's Department of Social Services (DSS) to immediately improve its attempts to notify 1.4 million state residents that their personal information may have been stolen by hackers in August. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,97042,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Data protection watchdog distributes email mailing list The Dutch Data Protection Authority (Dutch DPA), which supervises the compliance with acts that regulate the use of personal data, was rather red-faced this week when it sent out a newsletter with all of the recipients in the Cc: field instead of the Bcc: field. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/mailing_list_cock_up/ - - - - - - - - - - UK ID fraud survey underway Researchers have declared that a business-backed UK identity theft study is underway. Identity risk management firm ID Analytics, the company behind the research, has started its National Study on Identity Fraud, which has been supported by the likes of O2, HSBC and the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS). http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39171947,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Ukraine: Cyber policemen receive government awards Recently, Minister of the Interior Nikolay Bilokon rewarded cadets of High Schools at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. There were three cadets of Donetsk Law Institute among of the rewarded cadets. Nadezhda Khlystova cadet at the faculty of public order rewarded with gratuity of the third extent. Oksana Toroschina cadet at the faculty of traffic police rewarded with gratuity of the second extent. http://www.crime-research.org/news/29.10.2004/752/ - - - - - - - - - - NSA Security Guide for Mac OS X An anonymous reader writes "The National Security Agency has just released a Security Configuration Guide for Apple Mac OS X. The guide mostly contains common sense configuration information that applies to many Unix systems. It also includes specific discussion for Apple's unique features such as Keychain and FileVault. http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/29/1353206 - - - - - - - - - - GM, Boeing push identity management General Motors Corp. plans to migrate its end-user identity management services to a single global provider over the next several years as part of a broad initiative to improve IT efficiency and reduce the automaker's operational costs. When it's completed, the consolidated identity management system will enable universal application access and single-sign-on capabilities for about 500,000 end users, including GM employees and workers at suppliers, contractors and other business partners, according to Tony Scott, the company's chief technology officer. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,97054,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Uk.gov database 'rationalisation', the ID scheme way Among the Home Office "concessions" on ID cards hailed (with quite remarkable promptness) this week by Home Affairs Committee chairman John Denham MP (Lab) was "the rationalisation of current database proposals and the dropping of the Citizen Information Project." Denham appears however to have been in error in cheering the demise of the CIP on behalf of his Committee, for just 24 hours later Treasury Chief Secretary Paul Boateng issued a written statement to Parliament indicating the CIP is actually being reworked to use the national ID register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/id_scheme_eats_cip/ - - - - - - - - - - Mind those IMs--your cubicle's walls have eyes Big Brother is watching you at work, and making a pretty penny doing it. As more and more companies install monitoring software to track employee activities--threatening to turn cubicles into no-privacy zones--businesses that offer workplace surveillance tools are enjoying a boomlet. Security cameras and phone monitoring have long given bosses a view into workers' daily habits. But now employers are going further than ever, thanks to technology that can capture e-mail and instant messaging conversations, or record a worker's every keystroke. http://news.com.com/Mind+those+IMs--your+cubicles+walls+have+eyes/2100-1014_3-5423220.html - - - - - - - - - - Porn Is Going Mobile Bloggers and journalists have been all over a Yankee Group study released Monday that predicts a $1 billion global market for mobile porn by 2008. On the off chance you missed the flurry, let me clarify. Mobile porn is not a big bus that travels to underserved rural areas a la mobile libraries or hearing test centers. Rather, it's the next logical step for adult content delivery. Sex Drive. Or is it? http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,65509,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Wireless access point triggers bomb scare An Australian man whose wireless access point triggered a bomb scare has spoken of his shock at been treated like a potential terrorist. Student Bobby T, 20, set up a Dlink 2100AP wireless access point outside his home in the suburbs of Sydney to act as a node in a community wireless network. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/29/wireless_ap_bomb_scare/ *********************************************************** 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.