NewsBits for November 12, 2004 ************************************************************ Police break up European piracy ring Greek and British police in a joint operation cracked an illegal software sales ring, arresting two people and seizing thousands of pirated software programs, Greek police said on Friday. Police said they had arrested a Greek citizen and a Briton who pirated and sold an expensive computer software program for the car and aeronautic industry, charging only about $905 (700 euros). http://news.com.com/Police+break+up+European+piracy+ring/2100-1014_3-5449951.html - - - - - - - - - - Dutch Charge Teenage Govt Web Site Hacker Suspects Dutch authorities have charged two teenagers with cyber crimes on suspicion of bringing down government Web sites last month by flooding them with traffic, public prosecutor said on Friday. The boys from the southern Dutch town of Breda were arrested earlier this week after a raid on their houses in which computers were confiscated. There could be more arrests, the public prosecution service said. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=6800287 - - - - - - - - - - Trojan targets UK online bank accounts Virus writers have created a new Trojan horse capable of helping crooks to break into the accounts of British internet banking customers. The Banker-AJ Trojan targets users of UK online banks such as Abbey, Barclays, Egg, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide and NatWest. The malware records passwords and keystrokes once users of infected machines visit targeted websites. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9916 - - - - - - - - - - Bofra worm bypasses antivirus systems The newly discovered Bofra worm is the first example of a potentially devastating breed of infection able to bypass traditional antivirus systems, security experts have claimed. According to content security firm Clearswift, the MyDoom variant, which exploits an unpatched buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, employs a novel spreading strategy that makes it very difficult for traditional antivirus systems to detect. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159349 - - - - - - - - - - Latest Mydoom virus may signal dreaded 'zero day' attack The time lapse between security flaw announcements and exploits is shrinking. The latest version of the Mydoom virus suggests to security experts that a much-anticipated "zero day" attack may have already arrived. "Zero day" refers to an exploit, either a worm or a virus, that arrives on the heels of, or even before, the public announcement of a vulnerability in a computer system. This week's version of Mydoom appeared only two days after a security flaw in Windows Internet Explorer was made public by two hackers, according to reports. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/holes/story/0,10801,97474,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Say hello to the 'time bomb' exploit Prepare yourself for "time bomb" exploits that attack web-based systems at a pre-determined time. A recent whitepaper, Second-order Code Injection Attacks, by UK security consultancy NGS Software (NGS) explains how new techniques for attacking web-based applications alter the security landscape. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9917 - - - - - - - - - - '10 new XP SP2 flaws' revealed A security company has warned that hackers can 'silently and remotely take over any SP2 machine', but Microsoft has rubbished the claims. Security firm Finjan has found 10 flaws in Windows XP SP2 -- while Microsoft is saying the warnings are over the top. According to the security company, the flaws mean that "attackers can silently and remotely take over an SP2 machine when the user simply browses a web page". http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39173703,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Cybercriminals infiltrating U.K. companies Criminal gangs in Britain are increasingly attempting to plant insiders in companies to steal data and aid cybercrime attacks. According to a report published Friday by the Financial Services Authority--an independent body that regulates the financial services industry in the United Kingdom--this practice is set to rise and businesses need to screen potential staff more carefully. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5450117.html FSA warns firms to improve security The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has called on a range of firms need to improve their security systems as a defence against hackers, fraudsters and other digital threats. The regulator says that while some larger firms, especially in the banking sector, have implemented appropriate protection, smaller firms and other sectors are less well prepared. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159359 - - - - - - - - - - Finjan: Warning users or scaring up business? Security tools maker Finjan Software warned on Wednesday that it found as many as 10 security flaws in the last update to Microsoft's flagship operating system, Windows XP Service Pack 2. In a statement that contained few details, the U.K. company claimed that the vulnerabilities could enable attackers to remotely access a victim's files, remove security measures aimed at Internet threats and run programs without any notification to the user. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5449269.html - - - - - - - - - - Virus warning: Cyborgs at risk Kevin Warwick, professor of cybernetics at Reading University in England, is looking forward to becoming a cyborg again. But the academic, who has wired his nervous system up to a computer and put an RFID chip in his arm, is also warning that the day will come when computer viruses can infect humans as well as PCs. http://news.com.com/Virus+warning+Cyborgs+at+risk/2100-7337_3-5450753.html - - - - - - - - - - Sun Micro's Answer to the Linux Invasion: Give Away Solaris 10 In offering its flagship software free, the firm hopes to neutralize the open-source threat. When Sun Microsystems Inc. rolls out the latest overhaul of its flagship software for running computer networks today, executives are likely to tout enhancements such as diagnostic tools that increase productivity by a third. But the big eyebrow raiser of Solaris 10 will be its price: Free. (LA Times article, free registration required) http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-sun15nov15,1,7466456.story *********************************************************** 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.