NewsBits for November 19 2004 ************************************************************ U.S. charges 15 Kansans in child pornography cases The U.S. attorney in Kansas on Thursday announced indictments against 15 Kansas residents, including five in the Kansas City area, for receiving or distributing child pornography. In addition, an Arizona man was accused of traveling to Kansas to have sex with what he thought was a 13-year- old girl, and a California, Mo., man was indicted in federal court in Kansas City for allegedly producing child pornography. All of the cases are unrelated. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/10218821.htm Prosecutor Dramatizes Child Porn Increase http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/10227161.htm - - - - - - - - - - 2 men handed suspended jail sentences for data theft Two men were given suspended jail sentences Friday for stealing personal data of subscribers to Japanese broadband services provider Softbank Corp. in an effort to extort money from the company. Yutaka Tomiyasu, 24, and Takuya Mori, 35, were arrested in May for illegally accessing personal information on Softbank customers after obtaining passwords to hack into the company's database. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/9975 - - - - - - - - - - Sober worm causes headaches (series of stories) After a relatively quiet fall, a mass-mailing worm begins to spread on Windows PCs, and a Trojan horse targets Symbian-based cell phones. Meanwhile, the Air Force turns to Microsoft for security help. http://news.com.com/Sober+worm+causes+headaches/2009-7349_3-5458471.html http://news.com.com/Sober+worm+variant+shimmies/2100-7349_3-5459834.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39174388,00.htm Sober worm about to cause major hangover http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159536 - - - - - - - - - - D.C. College Students Targeted in Piracy Suit The recording industry's lobbying group today sued three users of American University's computer network, accusing them of illegally sharing digital music files online. The targets of the RIAA action were among a group of 761 people sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) today as part of its ongoing legal campaign against Internet music piracy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60606-2004Nov18.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6531127/ http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-11-19-riaa-761-suits_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Addiction to porn destroying lives, Senate told Experts compare effect on brain to that of heroin or crack cocaine. Comparing pornography to heroin, researchers are calling on Congress to finance studies on porn addiction and launch a public health campaign about its dangers. Internet pornography is corrupting children and hooking adults into an addiction that threatens their jobs and families, a panel of anti-porn advocates told a hearing organized Thursday by Senator Sam Brownback, chairman of the Commerce subcommittee on science. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6525520/ http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65772,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Skulls program kills cell phone apps Virus writers are targeting Symbian-based cell phones with a Trojan horse that kills off system applications and replaces their icons with images of skulls. The program, dubbed "Skulls" by antivirus companies, is disguised as a theme manager for Nokia phones in the Symbian Installation System format, said Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research for software maker F-Secure. http://news.com.com/Skulls+program+kills+cell+phone+apps/2100-7349_3-5460194.html http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159550 - - - - - - - - - - Mystery 'researchers' are revealing IE flaws Security organisation Secunia says it can't explain why researchers are revealing vulnerabilities outside the normal reporting channels. Security company Secunia says is perplexed by the motives of 'researchers' who recently published details of Internet Explorer 6.0 vulnerabilities and exploits on the Web. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39174386,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - More funding needed for security R&D, IT committee says The government has shortchanged basic research into cybersecurity and should at least quadruple the money available for civilian research, the Presidents IT Advisory Committee says. The government plays a key role in supplying the intellectual capital to improve the security of IT systems, said F. Thomas Leighton, chairman of the PITAC subcommittee on cybersecurity. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/27979-1.html Security training needs complete overhaul http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159541 - - - - - - - - - - Cybersecurity and the question of leadership The word "czar" sounds so anachronistic. It conjures up images of leaders in some long-ago hinterland, living behind moats and writing decrees on parchment. So, in the Internet Age, how did we settle on the title of cybersecurity "czar" for the nation's top IT champion, cop, teacher and Cassandra? http://news.com.com/Cybersecurity+and+the+question+of+leadership/2010-7348_3-5458093.html - - - - - - - - - - End of NT 4 support good news for hackers Microsoft's move to stop supporting Windows NT Server 4.0 at the end of 2004 will create a migration nightmare that will leave the two million servers that still rely on the operating system open to increased risk from hackers, it has been claimed today. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159533 - - - - - - - - - - Lexmark spyware puts hardware in security spotlight The revelation that Lexmark uses software that monitors customers' printing raises interesting questions for other hardware vendors, says a technology lawyer. Allegations of printer manufacturer exmark installing "spyware" will cause hardware companies to reconsider their licensing practices, a leading technology law firm has said. Experts at law firm Olswang believe hardware companies have to review their data-gathering tactics to play fairly with their customers. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39174382,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Bill Gates Is Right? Bill Gates is right about one thing: asking people to use a two-factor form of authentication would go a long way toward alleviating a lot of the password problems that plague computer security today. http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/277 CIO Jury: Gates' password prediction wrong http://comment.silicon.com/ciojury/0,3800003161,39126022,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - This week in security news Phishing is one of the fastest-growing forms of personal fraud in the world. While consumers are the most obvious victims, the damage spreads far wider--hurting companies' finances and reputations and potentially undermining consumer confidence in the safety of e-commerce. http://news.com.com/This+week+in+security+news/2100-1029_3-5460158.html Companies Forced to Fight Phishing http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61916-2004Nov19.html Anti-Fraud Alliance formed to fight ID theft, phishing schemes http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,97670,00.html - - - - - - - - - - How To Steal Wi-Fi When I moved into a new neighborhood last week, I expected the usual hassles. Then I found out I'd have to wait more than a month for a DSL line. I started convulsing. If I don't have Net access for even one day, I can't do my job. So, what was I supposed to do? There's an Internet cafe on the next block, but they close early. I had no choice it was time to start sneaking on to my neighbors' home networks. http://slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2109941& - - - - - - - - - - Eight best practices for disaster recovery Given the number of blackouts, hurricanes and other disasters that have come our way over the past few years, many CIOs are wisely reexamining their disaster recovery strategies. Executive Council members share some of their tried-and-true methods. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/recovery/story/0,10801,97620,00.html *********************************************************** 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. 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