NewsBits for December 28, 2004 ************************************************************ Princeton bus driver faces child porn charges A man who serves as a storefront minister here and a bus driver for Princeton schools faces federal child-pornography charges, federal officials said today. Robert Elms, 49, also known as Father Dominic Elms of St. Mary's Traditional Catholic Church, surrendered today to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Cincinnati. The charges against Elms stem from German authorities' investigation of a child pornography operation there a year ago, officials said. Immigration investigators in Virginia traced e-mails to Elms, then forwarded information to the Cincinnati immigration officials, court records indicated. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041228/NEWS01/412290331 http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/4030655/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Man held on federal child porn charges A Scott County man is accused of possessing hundreds of child pornography images, federal authorities charge in a two-count indictment. Todd Peter Norveisas is charged with receiving and possessing child porn over the computer. His last known address, according to court records, is in Bettendorf. There are at least 300 images, and as many as 600 or more images, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court. http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1042366 - - - - - - - - - - Amarilloan facing child pornography charges A Potter County grand jury returned a four-count indictment against a 63-year-old man Wednesday for allegedly sending child pornography to an undercover postal inspector in June. Phillip Gorden Hower, 63, an Amarillo karate instructor, faces four counts of possession of child pornography for allegedly sending seven computer files, including four images that appeared to be minors engaged in sexual conduct, to the postal inspector June 7, according to court documents. The postal inspector received the images after entering a Yahoo computer chat room in May and began a series of online chats with an individual later identified as Hower. http://amarillo.com/stories/122804/new_907995.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Child porn pictures case A MAN appeared in court on Christmas Eve accused of making more than 1,000 indecent pictures of children. David Wright, of Low Byer Park, Alston, appeared before magistrates sitting at Penrith but did not enter a plea after he was charged with 24 counts of making indecent photographs, which relate to nearly 1,100 photographs allegedly seized by police on his home computer. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=165870 - - - - - - - - - - Supervisor won't face charges in child porn allegations Garfield Township's supervisor will face no criminal charges for allegedly having child pornography on his personal computers at home. A two-month investigation by the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office failed to turn up enough evidence to issue charges against Lee Wilson, Prosecutor-elect Alan Schneider said. Township officials still have to decide whether any disciplinary action will be taken for adult images found on Wilson's office computer. http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/dec/28wilsn.htm - - - - - - - - - - U.S. Still Spam King Efforts to address the spam problem in the U.S. are having little impact, says Gregg Mastoras, senior security analyst at Sophos. "The problem is poor legislation and a lack of interest among law enforcement agencies to pursue spammers," he says, noting that the U.S. also topped the previous "Dirty Dozen" list issued early this year. The U.S. has maintained its dubious distinction of being the world's top producer of spam, leading the "Dirty Dozen" list compiled by security authority Sophos by a wide margin. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=U-S--Still-Spam-King&story_id=29306 - - - - - - - - - - Man admits Christmas lights Web site scam A man who boasted to reporters around the world that his Web site allowed strangers to turn his outdoor Christmas lights off and on admitted Monday it was an elaborate hoax designed, he said, to spread holiday cheer. http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/28/christmas.scam.ap/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-12-28-xmaslights_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Cabir cell phone threat worsens Reporting a new crop of variants, a security firm warned that the Cabir cell phone malware is becoming more of a threat. Earlier versions of Cabir, which spreads through phones running the Symbian operating system and Bluetooth wireless technology, won attention this summer for being the first worms to spread via smart phones. But they were quickly determined to be relatively harmless, proof-of-concept programs. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5505854.html http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/virus/story/0,10801,98578,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Government Regulations Mean Better Security, Survey Finds A new survey of computer security professionals reveals that while many of them believe that the time they need to comply with increased government regulations has cut into their ability to secure their computer networks, they also admit that those networks are safer as a result. Yet, almost one in five said they would be willing to leave their networks unprotected on an around-the-clock basis, preferring to accept the risks to their networks and to the information contained on them. http://www.govtech.net/?pg=news/news&id=92578 - - - - - - - - - - Cracking cyber crime: Delhi Police at a Net loss With all the marvels of IT, a downside had to come along. Business organisations are busy updating their fire-proofing almost on a monthly basis, official sites keep an eye out for hackers and intelligence agencies hone in on terrorist "chatter" through a web of hundreds of satellites. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/971741.cms - - - - - - - - - - Wal-Mart says on track with tracking tag rollout Wal-Mart Stores, the world's biggest retailer, on Monday said it was on target to expand its use of electronic inventory tracking tags next month, which is expected to pave the way for others to follow. The retailer is at the fore of a drive to replace bar codes with radio- frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded in plastic product tags that can track goods and signal the need for restocking, boosting supply efficiency and cutting costs. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/parts/2004-12-28-walmart-rfid_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Top 5 privacy issues for 2005 During the past year, Ponemon Institute has surveyed thousands of individuals on a variety of issues affecting their privacy, from a universal credentialing system to Internet ads that use personal information to target prospective customers. Emerging trends from our research suggest that individuals view their right to privacy as increasingly important and worry about how organizations collect, use and share their personal information. http://computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,98448,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Computer woes continue to plague airlines The cancellation of 1,100 Christmas Day flights by Comair because of computer troubles is prompting calls for more investments in backup systems and other technologies to prevent further groundings and damage to an already struggling industry. The foul-up was hardly the first: A computer glitch grounded 40 Delta flights in May. A power failure created a computer problem that forced Northwest to cancel more than 120 flights in July. A worker keystroke error grounded or delayed some American and US Airways flights for several hours in August. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-12-28-flying-bugs_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.