NewsBits for January 4, 2005 ************************************************************ 'Spam King' agrees to stop until FTC lawsuit is resolved Under an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, a man known as the ``Spam King'' will stop infecting computers with advertising programs until a federal lawsuit against him is resolved. Sanford Wallace and his companies, SmartBot.net Inc. of Richboro, Pa., and Seismic Entertainment Productions Inc. of Rochester are required by the agreement to send online ads only to people who visit their Web sites. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/10563242.htm http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6785457/ http://news.com.com/Notorious+Net+marketer+to+halt+spyware+ads/2100-1024_3-5512187.html Spam joins pounds on New Year's 'to shed' list http://news.com.com/Spam+joins+pounds+on+New+Years+to+shed+list/2100-1022_3-5512382.html - - - - - - - - - - Court deals Microsoft setback in piracy case Microsoft has encountered a significant setback in its lawsuit claiming that a Utah company distributed pirated versions of Windows software. A federal appeals court last week tossed out an earlier ruling in Microsoft's favor, saying that more hearings were necessary before MBC Enterprises, a family-owned company in Salt Lake City, could be found liable for copyright infringement. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5511749.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/04/ms_versus_mbc/ - - - - - - - - - - Nigerian scammers 'exploit tsunami tragedy' Brief: A fraudulent email claiming to come from an Asian charity helping Tsunami victims is circulating the Web. Nigerian scammers appear to be trying to cash in on the public sympathy for the victims of the South-East Asian tsunami. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39183086,00.htm Police probe nixes teen's tsunami effort No charges will be filed against a teenager behind a Web site asking for donations for the victims of the Asian tsunami disaster, according to Tasmanian police. Jason Hutcheon, a detective senior constable, said the 19-year-old resident of Glenorchy will not face charges because the Web site had been created in "good faith." The Web site's author sincerely did not believe he was doing anything wrong and just copied the idea from a U.S. Web site, Hutcheon said. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5511597.html - - - - - - - - - - Trial begins for baseball fan accused of hijacking e-mail addresses The lawyer for a disgruntled sports fan accused of sending thousands of angry e-mail messages that appeared to be from Philadelphia sportswriters acknowledged that his client is "maybe psychologically fanatical" about the Philadelphia Phillies. But Mark T. Wilson, the lawyer for Allan E. Carlson, 41, of Glendale, Calif., said he doubted the prosecutor could prove that his client caused more than $5,000 in damage, the threshold for a federal crime. Also, Wilson said the federal identity theft law that Carlson is accused of breaking doesn't make it a crime to use someone else's e-mail address. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-01-04-philly-fan-email_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Police grab 60,000 AMD CPUs Taiwanese police have seized some 60,000 allegedly dud AMD processors believed to have been made ready for sale as fully functioning product. However, over 1m re-marked chips may already have entered European and Asian sales channels. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/04/amd_suspect_cpu_seizure/ - - - - - - - - - - eBay fights back against phishers eBay has moved to squelch spoofed e-mail bearing its name by introducing a private mail service. In recent weeks, the online auctioneer introduced My Messages, a free, personalized in-box for eBay customers that contains communications only sent from eBay. That way, members can be sure to avoid spam in disguise or phishing scams designed to lure people to a fake eBay Web site in order to capture credit card numbers or other personal information. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5512182.html - - - - - - - - - - FDIC says better authentication is needed to combat ID theft The agency that insures U.S. bank deposits is concerned about the growth of identity theft and the ability of thieves to gain access to financial accounts. Although reliable statistics are difficult to come by, a new study from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. concludes that account hijacking is now a small but growing problem for financial institutions and consumers, and that conducting financial transactions online may place consumers at more risk. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/31445-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Instant credit means instant identity theft A surge in personal bankruptcies isn't the only consequence of America's addiction to credit. And the problems connected to irresponsible credit card use are no longer limited to those who don't pay their bills on time. Anyone can be a victim of the radioactive fallout from the credit culture: Identity theft. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6762127/ - - - - - - - - - - Phishing attacks increase by 29 per cent Internet fraud attacks against online banking customers have increased by 29 per cent with criminals using sophisticated viruses to steal information. More than 1518 active phishing sites were reported in November with America hosting the most fake online bank sites, according to a report by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and Websense. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1160274 - - - - - - - - - - Golden State of Privacy Californians entered the new year with the assurance their cell phone numbers cannot be automatically added to the 411 database, the ability to sue spammers and the comfort of knowing rental car companies cannot track their travels, thanks to a spate of privacy- enhancing laws that went into effect Jan. 1. Those outside California's borders may benefit as well. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,66165,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Los Gatos firm stands against movie pirates A new weapon has been added to Hollywood's growing technological and legal arsenal against online movie piracy. BayTSP of Los Gatos introduced a new monitoring system that it claims can identify the sources of the original bootlegs that feed movie content to the popular file-sharing networks eDonkey and BitTorrent. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/10561389.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/31/lokitorrent_fights_mpaa/ Piracy hits Hollywood in the wallet http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9596_22-5511668.html Digital piracy killing the video star http://www.vnunet.com/news/1160273 - - - - - - - - - - The Reshipping Scam More than 50 people crowded into a Lagos, Nigeria, street one day last spring, shouting in outrage and manhandling four local cops and an American FBI agent who were arresting a neighborhood kid they suspected of running online scams. I thought we were going to have a riot, recalls FBI supervisory special agent Dale Miskell. The people started going nuts. Neighborhood women felt especially protective of the 18-year-old boy being taken into custody, he says. http://internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=13727 - - - - - - - - - - Preparing for a doomsday attack The Internet has withstood major assaults to bring the system crashing down, but each new cyberattack raises the specter of a doomsday scenario. What if terrorists launched a physical attack in combination with a major cybersalvo aimed at bringing the Internet to its knees? Because of the increasing overlap between the various energy, electrical and communications grids, the potential risk is no longer theoretical. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5512037.html - - - - - - - - - - Bots and adware top threats for 2005 Bots and mass-mailers are expected to remain the predominant methods by which virus writers attack enterprises in 2005, according to security experts. McAfee's Avert antivirus group also predicted that exploits and adware will account for over 60 per cent of security problems for home users. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1160264 - - - - - - - - - - Viewing 2004: The security threats "2004 has been the year of phishing." Those were the words of Steve Purdham, CEO of SurfControl. And in the mind of many within the security industry they succinctly sum up the year for security vendors and consumers alike. All major vendors appear to agree, for once. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5511455.html Year in review: Networking gets secure http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5511444.html - - - - - - - - - - Adware seeks more respect Let's say you're researching wireless companies because you want a new cell phone. You browse the Web sites of various providers, you read some online guides, you peruse opinion sites. Then an ad appears with just what you're looking for: a great deal on a wireless plan. Maybe you know where the ad came from, maybe you don't. Maybe you like that the ad appeared, maybe you don't. Maybe you don't care. http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzcov1227,0,7566244.story - - - - - - - - - - Risk Your PC's Health for a Song? Ads and adware have a new way to get on your computer --through files that appear to be music and video. PC World has learned that some Windows Media files on peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa contain code that can spawn a string of pop-up ads and install adware. They look just like regular songs or short videos in Windows Media format, but launch ads instead of media clips. http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,119016,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - British ID Card Gains Ground The British government's quest to institute a national identity card faces a critical phase in the next few weeks, as the legislation will be scrutinized and amended in committee at the House of Commons before going to the House of Lords to undergo the same process there. The Identity Cards Bill passed its second reading with a vote of 385 to 93 on Dec. 20. The cards are intended to begin rolling out in 2008, and Tony Blair's Labor government estimates the cost of the system at 3 billion pounds ($5.7 billion), though opponents believe it will cost at least twice that much. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,66125,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Snapshots undo virus damage About a year ago, Wayne Genereux, director of IT at the Bristol County Sheriff's Office in Massachusetts, concluded that he couldn't afford to depend on tape backups for data protection anymore. To be more secure, he installed FilesX's Xpress Restore and Xchange Restore as a second line of defense. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/recovery/story/0,10801,98702,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Lancashire Constabulary starts mobile data trial Lancashire Constabulary is starting a six-month mobile data trial to help save time for officers on the beat. The pilot programme will give 300 staff pocket computers so they no longer have to go back to the station to write up reports or make database checks. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1160253 - - - - - - - - - - Megan's Law: Living with knowing Jill Simpson wishes she had never typed her San Jose ZIP code into the new online database that gives detailed information about convicted sex offenders in California. A convicted rapist lives two streets away, and three other sex offenders live in her San Jose neighborhood, one near the preschool to which she had planned to send her daughter. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/10561293.htm Where sex offenders live -- and why you don't know http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/7531745.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 2000-2005, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.