NewsBits for February 9, 2005
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Hackers sued for tinkering with Xbox games
In the first case of its kind, a California video
game maker is suing an entire community of software
tinkerers for reverse engineering and modifying
Xbox games that they legally purchased. Tecmo,
Inc., a subsidiary of a Japanese company, announced
a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Mike Greiling
of Eden Prairie, Minn., and Will Glynn from Davie,
Fla, for alleged violations of U.S. copyright law
and the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright
Act.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/10466
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EarthLink fries up more spam suits
The Internet service provider said that all four
claims, which were filed in the U.S. District Court
of Atlanta during January, charge defendants with
violating the Can-Spam Act, the federal Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act, and the Georgia Computer
Systems Protection Act, in addition to state
and federal racketeering laws.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5569439.html
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Symantec flaw leaves opening for viruses
Symantec has issued a patch for a flaw in its
scanning software that could cause a virus to
execute, rather than catch it. The vulnerability
affects an antivirus library used by the majority
of Symantec's antivirus and antispam products,
including Norton SystemWorks 2004 and Symantec
Mail Security for Exchange, the security provider
said on Tuesday.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5569811.html
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/holes/story/0,10801,99629,00.html
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Spyware takes aim at Mozilla browsers
Security experts are advising that spyware that
targets browsers from the Mozilla Foundation has
been spotted--a threat that could worsen as its
Firefox browser takes market share from Microsoft.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5569635.html
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3481651
Spoofing flaw hits web browsers
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1161104
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Virtual Jihad
Radical Islamic Web sites are encouraging
their supporters to wage holy war online.
Their exhortations underscore U.S. vulnerability
to cyberterror. In recent months, an odd message
has popped up on some radical Islamic Web sites.
Readers are encouraged to use their computers
to advance the cause of jihad. One preferred
method touted on these sites: launch a
cyberattack by jamming the Web sites and
e-mail addresses of the Zionist enemy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6940849/site/newsweek/
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Phones, Car Engines Face Security Threats -- Report
Daily computer security headaches such as viruses
and spam threaten to spread to a far wider range
of devices -- from phones to car engines, a survey
to be published by IBM on Wednesday has found.
The report, published by IBM Security Intelligence
Services, a consulting arm of the world's largest
computer company, paints a picture of rampant,
albeit controllable, security dangers.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7574854
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,99634,00.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/09/ibm_security_report/
Virus threat widening
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39187252,00.htm
New Outlets for Viruses, Spam
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,66549,00.html
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Infrastructure, cybersecurity could be next in line for consolidation
The Office of Management and Budget plans to
delve deep into whether agencies can standardize
cybersecurity processes and whether there are
ways to reduce the amount of money agencies
spend on infrastructure over the next nine
months. OMB officials estimated that agencies
spend more than $4 billion on IT security
processes, and just under $11 billion on office
automation, infrastructure and telecommunications
systems, according to analyses of the fiscal 2006
IT business cases through the Federal Enterprise
Architecture.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/35042-1.html
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Employees to be quizzed over compliance
A software application launched on Thursday will
force workers to take regular tests on company
policies - and could help to keep management
out of jail. Employees could soon be tested
to see whether they have read and understood
company policies on issues such as data
protection and financial disclosure.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/employment/0,39020648,39187402,00.htm
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TRUSTe seal yanked from FreeiPods.com website
TRUSTe, the business community's guarantor of
Internet privacy, abruptly ended on Wednesday
its relationship with the company operating
FreeiPods.com and other Web sites, alleging
unspecified violations of privacy promises
to consumers. TRUSTe said Gratis Internet LLC
of Washington no longer could display on any
of its Internet properties the industry's
broadly recognized seal intended to assure
consumers that a Web site complies with
privacy-protection guidelines.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/10463
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Third buy's a charm for Microsoft security?
Microsoft's idea to purchase Sybari Software came
from a place where many of its ideas are born--its
labs. Late last year, the software giant wanted to
build on an important technology--the RAV antivirus
software that it acquired from Romania-based GeCad
--to take it beyond a desktop virus scanner to
a security product for businesses.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5568456.html
Microsoft Anti-Spyware Software Under Attack
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Microsoft-Anti-Spyware-Software-Under-Attack&story_id=30376
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/09/banking_trojan/
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5569429.html
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Doctors secure PCs from viruses
The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) has installed
internet security to reduce the number of viruses
infecting its systems. The organisation has chosen
security specialist ScanSafe to protect its 150
public-access computers and networked business
applications.
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1161131
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Students ordered to wear tracking tags
The only grade school in this rural town
is requiring students to wear radio frequency
identification badges that can track their
every move. Some parents are outraged,
fearing it will rob their children of
privacy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6942751/
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/education/10853541.htm
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Vegas casino bets on RFID
Casino mogul Steve Wynn has pulled out all
the stops for his new $2.7 billion mega-resort
in Las Vegas: an 18-hole championship golf course,
a private lake and mountain, and a bronze tower
housing 2,700 plush guest rooms. But when its
doors open in April, the Wynn Las Vegas will
have one unique feature that few visitors are
likely to notice--high-tech betting chips
designed to deter counterfeiting, card-
counting and other bad behavior.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5568288.html
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MPs criticise hasty reading of ID Cards Bill
The government's ID Cards Bill will receive its
final reading in Parliament today (Thursday) amid
claims it is being rushed through with far too
little time for consideration by MPs. Liberal
Democrat IT spokesman Richard Allan says questions
raised but not adequately discussed include
the power retained by the government to share
information on a central register with foreign
organisations such as Interpol and the FBI.
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1161136
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The curse of the secret question
It's happened to all of us: We sign up for some
online account, choose a difficult-to-remember
and hard-to-guess password, and are then presented
with a "secret question" to answer. Twenty years
ago, there was just one secret question: "What's
your mother's maiden name?" Today, there are more:
"What street did you grow up on?" "What's the
name of your first pet?" "What's your favorite
color?" And so on.
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,,99628,00.html
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Unexpected Attack Vectors
A new round of attacks and phishing attempts
use some unexpected attack vectors that we
should have been paying attention to, but weren't.
Back in 1882, Los Angeles was a rough, dry town
of 12,000 people that had been an incorporated
municipality for a little over 3 decades. 1882
also saw the introduction of telephone service
and electric streetlights.
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/298
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Penetration Testing IPsec VPNs
As companies expand their presence globally,
there arises a need for secure electronic
communications between geographically dispersed
locations. Virtual private networks (VPNs) provide
an economically viable option to address this need.
A VPN is a private network that uses the public
Internet to either connect remote users to
the company's internal network or establish
a seamless connection between the company's
physically isolated sites.
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1821
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Data mining from the pilot's seat
Commentary--Anyone who has ever flown a plane--
or even glanced into a cockpit when boarding
a commercial flight--can appreciate the complex
array of gauges and monitors that the pilot must
check. All the data about a plane's speed, course,
fuel and other details are available at a glance,
each giving the pilot the information necessary
to make sound, safe decisions.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9592_22-5569538.html
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Police pilot intelligence database
THE first stage of the Impact programme
to create a national intelligence system
for UK police is being piloted across three
forces.The National Nominal Index (NNI) has
been developed by the Police IT Organisation
(Pito) as a way for forces to search five key
local systems, and will be rolled out to all
child abuse and protection units from April.
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1161147
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