NewsBits for April 12, 2005 ************************************************************ Data broker says security breach was worse than thought Criminals may have breached computer files containing the personal information of 310,000 people, a tenfold increase over a previous estimate of how much data was stolen from information broker LexisNexis, the company's parent said Tuesday. Last month, London-based publisher and data broker Reed Elsevier Group PLC said criminals may have accessed personal details of 32,000 people via a breach of its recently acquired Seisint unit, part of Dayton, Ohio-based LexisNexis. LexisNexis is a Reed subsidiary. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/11374894.htm http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5665221.html http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5668119.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7475594/ http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/12/technology/personaltech/lexis/index.htm http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/infotheft/2005-04-12-lexisnexis-theft_x.htm Data Thief's Prodigious Haul http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,67199,00.html Identity theft risk rockets http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39194836,00.htm More ID thefts reported as Senate investigates http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/35495-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Former Jefferson Co. detective gets 18 years in child porn case State and federal courts have sentenced a former Jefferson County sheriff's detective in child sex cases. James Hobart Irwin Junior was given an 18- year federal prison term after earlier admitting he sent an undercover police officer child pornography. The sentence was the culmination of a plea agreement. http://www.whnt19.com/Global/story.asp?S=3197396 - - - - - - - - - - Man jailed over WA's largest collection of child porn A 37-year-old Perth man has been sentenced to three years' jail for possessing what has been described as the Western Australia's largest collection of child pornography. Raymond John Belcher pleaded guilty to possessing more than 350,000 images and more than 6,400 short movies and videos of child pornography. Belcher was one of thousands of men arrested across Australia in a crackdown on child pornography on the Internet last year code named Operation Auxin. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1343861.htm http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12841255-2,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Man sentenced to prison in child porn case A 40-year-old former operator of a youth hostel in the Catskills was sentenced Monday to more than 12 years in federal prison for producing and receiving child pornography, authorities said. Thomas Pidel, 40, of Pine Hill in the town of Shandaken, was also ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors, undergo a mental health evaluation and register as a sex offender, according to U.S. Attorney Glenn Suddaby. Pidel, arrested Jan. 16, 2004, pleaded guilty last June, admitting that between 1999 and 2003 he took explicit pictures and sexually abused a 9-year-old boy and downloaded hundreds of pornographic images of children from Internet sites, Suddaby said. Before his arrest, he ran a youth hostel in the Belleayre resort region of the Catskills, and computers at his home and business contained child porn, authorities said. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--childpornographer0411apr11,0,5819106.story - - - - - - - - - - Overton man in child porn case pleads guilty to lesser charge An Overton man indicted in November for possessing child pornography pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Monday in a deal with federal prosecutors. According to the plea agreement, Joseph McGaughey, 24, pleaded guilty in federal court in Tyler to possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. The police department received a tip that accused McGaughey of downloading child pornography on computers owned by unsuspecting people from his church. http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/04/12/20050412LNJporncase.html - - - - - - - - - - Porn Arrest Police say a man they arrested for indecent exposure in Des Moines this weekend kept a hit list of kids he would like to sexually exploit. 39-year-old Mark Boston was only a few months away from having his name removed from the sex offender registry. Des Moines police siezed several computer picture printouts of children engaged in sex acts. Police believe Boston, convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy in 1991, may have also been manufacturing child pornography. http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3195410 - - - - - - - - - - Kid porn in pawned laptop A New Haven man who left 304 images of child pornography on a computer he hawked to a pawnshop was arrested over the weekend, police said. Gary L. Bremer, 43, of Orange Street, was trying to get cash when he sold his laptop to National Pawn off Route 1 in November 2003, police said. But he apparently got more than he bargained for when the store's owner spotted child pornography on his laptop last June, police said. Milford police were contacted, and Bremer was arrested on child pornography charges Saturday, ending a roughly nine-month investigation, police spokesman Officer Vaughan Dumas said Monday. http://www.whnt19.com/Global/story.asp?S=3197396 http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3197390 - - - - - - - - - - Taylors Man Charged For Having Child Porn Images of child porn are found on a home computer in Taylors. The tip came from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Now, a Taylors man is facing 10 charges. The 10 charges are detailed in search warrants but those who know the Taylor's man say all of it is a big mistake. 21-year-old Dihogony Cuesta was arrested Monday for Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. Investigators found images on his computer of four to ten year old children being raped by older men and having sex with each other. http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=3196956&nav=2KPpYY7m - - - - - - - - - - Man Arrested For Allegedly Viewing Child Porn At Kinko's A security guard who works at several Orlando apartment complexes has been arrested for allegedly looking at child pornography on a computer at a Kinko's store. Gerald Bruce Daniel was arrested Monday at the store on South Orange Blossom Trail, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported. Detectives said he was using the Internet kiosks to look up child porn. http://www.wesh.com/news/4368374/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Teacher At Center Of FBI Child Porn Investigation A high school teacher is at the center of an FBI child pornography investigation. The man works at Columbia High School in White Salmon. Because he has not been arrested or charged with a crime, we are not using his name or photo. The FBI is investigating whether he used a school computer to upload sexually explicit photographs of children. According to court documents, the images appear to be a girl under 12 engaged in oral sex with an adult man. http://www.koin.com/news.asp?ID=2068 - - - - - - - - - - Police Say Jones May Have Accessed Child Porn Although his criminal record doesn't show any other sex offenses, Sioux Falls police say Murray Jones may have been accessing child pornography at a Video Mania Store in Sioux Falls. In fact, just hours before Murray Jones allegedly murdered and raped 8-year-old Jessica DeLaTorre, he was sitting behind a computer screen at the cyber cafe. http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail4514.cfm?ID=22,38978 - - - - - - - - - - Teacher charged with having child porn A Fountain Hill man who taught math at Boyertown Area Senior High School was charged recently with possessing child pornography on his school computer. Peter J. Lamana, 38, of 500 Norway Place, was charged April 1 with sexual abuse of children and obscene and other sexual material and performances. The charges were filed with District Judge Michael Hartman of Boyertown, and Lamana is awaiting his preliminary hearing. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b4-4obscene-3apr12,0,7986212.story - - - - - - - - - - Italian smut virus scammer jailed for 14 months A 39-year-old Italian man convicted of running a porn dialler scam was last week jailed for 14 months on fraud and virus distribution charges. The unnamed perp was also fined 3,000 by a Milan court, after pleading guilty to masterminding an elaborate virus writing scam designed to fleece gullible Windows users. The case marks the first conviction for virus writing in Italy, La Repubblica reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/12/smut_dialler_sentence_italy/ - - - - - - - - - - Virus writer steals PS70,000 in three days Rogue dialler crime spree ends in court. The creator of the Marq premium rate email worm has narrowly dodged a jail sentence, but faces a 3,000 fine from an Italian court. The man wrote a computer worm which netted him 100,000 by illegally rerouting internet connections to offshore premium phone numbers. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1162423 - - - - - - - - - - Music group to sue students on Internet2 research network The super-fast ``Internet2'' network that connects universities researching the next-generation Internet is also apparently popular among college students who download pirated music and movies. Entertainment groups said Tuesday they intend to sue hundreds of students accused of illegally distributing copyrighted songs and films across college campuses using the private research network, which boasts speeds hundreds of times faster than the Internet. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/11375432.htm http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=02700000IY29 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5667385.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7476835/ http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,67198,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/12/new_file_sharing_lawsuits/ - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft sues over counterfeit software Microsoft is filing lawsuits against eight computer system builders and resellers in seven U.S. states, accusing them of distributing counterfeit and unlicensed software and components, the company said on Monday. The lawsuits follow similar action in November 2004 against eight dealers. Legal amendments in 2003 provide criminal and civil penalties for distributing software without authenticity certificates. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5663516.html - - - - - - - - - - Offshoring theft victims 'gullible and careless' The firm that runs the call centre in India where operators tricked customers out of around PS200,000 claims that the thefts were not preventable. The Indian IT firm at the centre of the $350,000 theft from US Citibank accounts has defended its security procedures and branded the victims "gullible" and "careless" for handing over their PIN numbers. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39194834,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Rules aimed at digital misdeeds lack bite Federal and state lawmakers, compelled by headlines of a computer-crime wave, are scrambling to introduce bills that would tighten cybersecurity and make it easier for prosecutors to file charges and impose stiffer penalties. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2005-04-11-net-law-cover_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Police forced to turn away e-crime victims Police are having to turn down requests to investigate computer crime from businesses due to a lack of resources, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit said last week. Mick Deats, deputy head of the unit, said the complex, time-consuming nature of investigations meant the unit could not investigate every case reported. http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=137817 - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft and the Mounties combine to track down child porn A new software system aimed at tracking down paedophiles on the internet has been developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with the help of Microsoft. The system, known as Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) was developed following a personal plea to Bill Gates by Sergeant Paul Gillespie, a Canadian Police Detective in 2003. Following the plea by email, Gates ordered a Microsoft team to help out the Canadian law enforcement authorities to develop the customised program they needed. CETS is said to be a specially enhanced security database system. Based on open standards and running on a variety of different computer systems the flexibility allows the computer systems from different countries and with different technologies to communicate with one another and share information. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/71305/microsoft-and-the-mounties-combine-to-track-down-child-porn.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft plugs critical holes in Windows Microsoft on Tuesday released a slew of security patches, five of them critical, as part of its monthly update. The updates include "critical" fixes to Windows' TCP/IP networking, Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, Office and Exchange Server. "Critical" is the company's highest severity rating. Three other Windows security holes are rated as "important," the next highest rating. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5667916.html Microsoft warns of 5 new security flaws http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7478479/ Microsoft's SP2 gets pushy http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5667231.html - - - - - - - - - - Linux servers praised for security Survey: A recent Yankee Group report may have incensed Linux devotees on some counts, but it did conclude that Linux is more secure than Windows. That finding that is now backed up by a new survey of software development managers. Software development managers rate Linux significantly higher than Windows server products for security, according to the latest research. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39194702,00.htm Flaws found in Cisco, Juniper and IBM kit http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39194832,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Phishing twist relies on bogus blogs A new form of phishing is taking shape and riding on the growing popularity of blogs, security company Websense said Tuesday. Malicious virus writers are attempting to lure people to malicious blogs using enticing e-mails and instant messages, according to a new report from Websense. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5666617.html - - - - - - - - - - U.C. Berkeley to head cybersecurity project The University of California, Berkeley, will lead a $19 million government-funded project to research how to best protect the nation's computing infrastructure. The announcement, made by the National Science Foundation late Monday, makes U.C. Berkeley one of two U.S. schools receiving funds this year to establish a Science and Technology Center. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5666782.html http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=05000000Z2M6 http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050412.gtberkelyapr12/BNStory/Technology/ - - - - - - - - - - NIST releases technical specs for new fed ID Agencies that already have begun issuing smart ID cards to employees and contractors under existing government smart card interoperability standards can continue their programs, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has said. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/35492-1.html - - - - - - - - - - UK to use passports to build national fingerprint database Mandatory fingerprinting of new UK passport applicants is to begin next year, as a "building block" for a future ID card scheme, according to a Guardian report The Government's ID Card Bill was spiked after the election was announced, but the Government is said to contend that as passports are issued under royal prerogative, it doesn't need legislation to demand fingerprints from passport applicants. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/12/uk_passport_fingerprints/ - - - - - - - - - - Ridge Says RFID Boosts Security Tom Ridge, the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, this week told the manufacturers and users of radio-frequency identification technologies that their work will protect Americans from terrorism. It will also make inventory tracking more efficient for retailers like Wal-Mart and their thousands of suppliers, he said. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,67192,00.html - - - - - - - - - - A hacker? No, an offline thief The image of an evil computer genius who penetrates into global computer networks from a home PC and who steals someone else's secrets is getting desperately old. Offline thieves succeed hackers. Computers in federal offices or in the General Staff of Armed Forces which contain "something important" on their hard disks are essentially not connected to the Internet. http://www.crime-research.org/news/12.04.2005/1127/ - - - - - - - - - - Bush Admin demands more banking data The Bush Administration plans to extend its mighty neural networks to international banking in hopes of discovering terrorist activity, the New York Times reported in its Sunday edition. The scheme would allow the US Treasury Department to maintain databases of international money transfers to and from the USA, creating an additional regulatory burden on banks struggling to comply with myriad regulations already imposed by the so-called "Patriot" Act. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/12/bank_regs_boost_data_mining/ - - - - - - - - - - Criminal background checks incomplete How convicted felons can slip through safety net. Employers and volunteer organizations are increasingly turning to national commercial database searches provided by private firms to ferret out potential convicts from their ranks. The searches are quick, inexpensive, and promise nationwide coverage -- in theory, preventing convicted felons from moving away from a checkered past. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7467732/ *********************************************************** 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.