NewsBits for May 27, 2005 ************************************************************ Network intrusion prompts Stanford to warn of possible data theft Stanford University is notifying about 9,600 users of its Career Development Center of a network intrusion on May 11 that may have exposed their names, Social Security numbers and other personal information. Notices of the attack are being sent through the U.S. Postal Service or e-mail to students and alumni who have used the Career Development Center since 1995 to help find jobs, said Debra Zumwalt, an attorney in the university's office of general counsel. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,102075,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Toronto police help in Spanish child-porn arrests An undercover Toronto police officer with the grim task of trolling the Internet for child pornography was sent images that helped Spanish police arrest five people and rescue nine children, the youngest of them less than a year old. A person in another part of Canada sent the police officer the first of the abuse images. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050527/SPANISH27/TPNational/Toronto - - - - - - - - - - Former deputy arrested for allegedly possessing, transporting child porn FBI agents arrested a former Mesa County Sheriffs Department deputy Wednesday on suspicion of transporting and possessing child pornography. Harry Oxford, 56, of Palisade was taken into custody by federal agents with assistance from the Sheriffs Department and the Palisade Police Department, according to FBI Special Agent Carl Schlaff. http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2005/05/27/5_27_child_porn_WWW.html - - - - - - - - - - Arundel teacher accused of possessing child porn Anne Arundel County police arrested an Old Mill High School science teacher yesterday, a day after firefighters discovered child pornography in his Ferndale home, police said. Michael Cashen, 54, of the 400 block of Ferndale Ave. turned himself in to the Northern District police station yesterday. It could not be determined late yesterday afternoon whether he had been released. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.ar.porn27may27,1,5215374.story - - - - - - - - - - Homeland Security flunks cybersecurity prep test The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has failed to live up to its cybersecurity responsibilities and may be "unprepared" for emergencies, federal auditors said in a scathing report released Thursday. More than two years after its creation, Homeland Security has never developed a contingency plan to restore Internet functions in an emergency and has yet to create a vulnerability assessment of what could happen in an worst-case scenario, the Government Accountability Office concluded. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5722227.html - - - - - - - - - - SEC fails own security and accounting tests The Securities and Exchange Commission has weaknesses in its information security and accountancy practices that should prevent fraud and ensure financial accuracy in other companies, according to auditors. In the first external audit of the organization, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the SEC, which supervises public companies' accounting, had failed to implement a "comprehensive monitoring program to identify unusual or suspicious access activities." http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5723356.html - - - - - - - - - - Robin Hood hackers hunt down phishers Hacking teams are targeting phishing websites in a spate of online vigilante attacks. UK security firm Netcraft has spotted two recent phishing sites that were quickly taken down and replaced by pages warning customers of the attempted fraud. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2135691/robin-hood-hackers-hunt-phishers - - - - - - - - - - Russian police hires hackers Russian police decided to employ hackers. Hackers have created their own enhanced three-level security system. Policemen admitted that it is impossible to reveal criminals even after the second level. It is very complicated to establish the IP of the attacking site after the third layer of the system. According to Russian police, 13 820 crimes in the sphere of high technologies were registered in 2004. It is a lot more than in 2003. http://www.crime-research.org/news/27.05.2005/russian-police-hires-hackers/ - - - - - - - - - - OS makers slow to fix flaw, researcher says Operating system vendors were given two months' notice before a security flaw was made public, but some have yet to resolve the issue, a security researcher has claimed. Colin Percival detailed the vulnerability--which affects versions of Intel's CPU that use a technology called hyperthreading--at a conference on May 13. The vulnerability could allow a local hacker to steal sensitive information, such as passwords, held on servers configured to allow multiple users to log in simultaneously. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5723114.html - - - - - - - - - - Web site helps those who fret about zombie threat Worried about zombies? Internet users concerned about the number of virus-infected PCs ready to launch an attack over the Web can now keep track of how afraid they should be -- and satisfy their curiosity -- by visiting CipherTrust Inc.'s new ZombieMeter resource. The security company added the meter to its Web site this week, offering visitors hourly information on the global activity of new zombies by tracking data it receives through its IronMail e-mail security appliances. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,102076,00.html - - - - - - - - - - ZombieMeter keeps tabs on hacked PCs CipherTrust is trying to keep a record of hijacked PCs - no mean feat with over 170,000 machines being compromised every day. Internet security company CipherTrust on Thursday breathed life into its ZombieMeter, a new system that tracks traffic from compromised PCs around the world. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39200376,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Developing nations losing spam battle, report says Developing countries are being overwhelmed with spam--a situation that threatens to widen the global digital divide, according to a new report. Countries like Malaysia, Nepal and Nigeria lack the bandwidth, technical know-how and financial resources to effectively combat junk e-mail, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in the report, released this week. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5723435.html - - - - - - - - - - Germans plan biometric hooligan clampdown The German government plans to record the biometric facial features of those present in stadiums during the World Cup in 2006. By comparing these features with images stored in a database, the police hope to identify potential hooligans. When the software recognises a suspicious person, security forces on location can immediately be alerted. The security plan was presented this week in Stuttgart by Germany's Interior Minister Otto Schily. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/26/biometric_hooligan_clampdown/ U.K.'s biometric trial exposes 'teething problems' http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,102051,00.html Get used to biometric tests, U.S. tells travelers http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,102079,00.html - - - - - - - - - - NATO begins making the case for moving to IP v.6 Spurred by international competition and the Defense Departments decision to move to Version 6 of Internet Protocols, the United States European allies are making plans to follow suit. NATO is developing a transition plan to move its military headquarters and WAN to IP v.6. Rob Goode, principal scientist for NATOs Consultation, Command and Control Agency, told the Coalition Summit for IP v.6 today that coordinating the move among 26 member nations will be a complex process. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/35917-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Wi-Finally: wireless security that actually works The security of Wi-Fi has largely been a joke. Wireless vendors have routinely shipped their products with all of their security features turned off, rather than take support calls from end users when things didn't work. Fortunately, the pieces are now in place for you to have safe and secure Wi-Fi networking, wherever you may roam. http://windowssecrets.com/comp/050526/#story1 - - - - - - - - - - Rise in muggings fueled by popularity of iPods, new phones - police The popularity of cell phones and digital iPod music players fueled a sharp rise in the number of muggings in April, Britain's most senior police officer said Thursday. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said the brightly colored leads on the digital music players made it easy for criminals to spot them. Government figures published Thursday showed the number of robberies - including muggings - was 26.4 percent higher in April than in the same month last year. http://news.findlaw.com/ap/e/53/05-26-2005/f7b4000b68c50304.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. 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.