NewsBits for July 8, 2005 ************************************************************ "Sasser" programmer gets probation sentence The teen creator of the Sasser Internet worm, which caused millions of dollars in damage worldwide, wont be going to jail despite his conviction Friday on charges including computer sabotage. Sven Jaschan, 19, who was fingered with the help of reward money from Microsoft Corp., instead got a 21-month suspended sentence and was ordered to do community service, court spokeswoman Katharina Kruetzfeld said. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8507272/ http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,103019,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/08/sasser_sentencing/ http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2005-07-08-sasser-conviction_x.htm http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/07/08/sasser.suspended/index.html Boy who nearly crashed the world http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=746192005 $250K reward for Sasser virus informants http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/08/sasser_snitch_reward/ Microsoft to reward informants after Sasser conviction http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11242 - - - - - - - - - - 2 indictments against 9 PIs in Trojan Horse affair Investigators employed by Modiin Ezrahi, Zvi Krochmal Investigations, and Pelosoff-Balali are accused of industrial espionage. The Tel Aviv District Prosecutor today filed two indictments with the Tel Aviv District Court in the Trojan Horse affair. The indictments were filed against nine private investigators employed by Modiin Ezrahi Ltd., Zvi Krochmal Investigations, and Pelosoff-Balali. http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=931923 - - - - - - - - - - Man arrested for using neighbour's wireless network A man has been arrested and charged for riding someone's home Wi-Fi network. Benjamin Smith III, 40, was arrested on April 21 outside the home of a Richard Dinon and charged under a Florida law that prohibits unauthorised access to a computer or network. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Monday. http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=4001 Use WiFi, go to jail? Are you secretly using your neighbour's broadband connection because he failed to shield his WiFi connection? You could be liable, as a man in Florida found out. http://www.siliconvalleysleuth.com/2005/07/use_wifi_go_to_.html - - - - - - - - - - VXers release 'London bombing' Trojan Virus writers have created a Trojan which poses as London terrorist attack news footage. Infected emails harbouring the Trojan pose as a CNN Newsletter which asks recipients to See attachments for unique amateur video shots. If executed, the malicious attachment turns infected Windows PCs into spam zombies. The as-yet unnamed Trojan attempts to obtain a list of SMTP servers that the victim's machine is configured to use and starts to use these servers to send large volumes of unsolicited mail. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/08/london_bombing_spambot/ http://news.com.com/Trojan+taps+into+London+bombings/2110-7349_3-5780233.html - - - - - - - - - - Trojan downloader spam poses as admin email Two new strains of Trojan downloader have reached near epidemic proportions following an aggressive spamming campaign by hackers this week. Email security firm MessageLabs has intercepted over 54,000 copies of email-borne malware since early Thursday (7 July). http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/08/trojan_downloader_spam/ 'Spam Report' Trojan Spreading Quickly http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=02100000GPTL - - - - - - - - - - Privacy group asks FTC to probe online investigation firms A privacy rights advocacy group has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Web sites advertising investigative services capable of digging up personal information such as phone call records are violating federal laws. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/12087978.htm - - - - - - - - - - Canada signs protocol to fight 'cyberhate' Canada became the first non-European country Friday to sign up to combat "cyberhate," the online dissemination of xenophobic propaganda. Canada signed an additional protocol to the international cybercrime convention, drafted in 2001 by the Council of Europe. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/07/08/canada.cybercrime.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Russia, Biggest Ever Credit Card Scam CardSystems Solutions Inc. admits it made a huge mistake after some 40 million credit card accounts ended up in the wrong hands. Some of those account numbers are already being sold on a Russian Web site and some consumers have already found fraudulent charges on their statements, TheDenverChannel.com reports. http://www.crime-research.org/news/08.07.2005/1349/ CardSystems: We'll meet security goals soon CardSystems Solutions, the credit card payment processor at the center of one of the biggest data breaches, said Thursday that it hoped to comply with the industry's security standards by the end of August, at least eight months after data thieves installed software on its computer network to facilitate a break-in. http://news.com.com/CardSystems+Well+meet+security+goals+soon/2100-1029_3-5780265.html - - - - - - - - - - Cops Watched Sex Offender's Blog Law enforcement agents tracking then-fugitive sex offender Joseph Duncan had been carefully monitoring the suspect's weblog in the hopes that he would reveal his whereabouts, officials told Wired News this week. "We went on and hoped that he'd tip his hand as to where he was, but he never did," said Sgt. Jeff Skuza of the Fargo Police Department in North Dakota, where Duncan lived until becoming a fugitive from Minnesota child-molestation charges in early May. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68136,00.html Blog Bares Sex Offender's Demons http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,68094,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Google wins 'typosquatting' dispute An Internet arbitrator has awarded Google Inc. the rights to several Web site addresses that relied on typographical errors to exploit the online search engine's popularity so computer viruses and other malicious software could be unleashed on unsuspecting visitors. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8515601/ http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/12087980.htm - - - - - - - - - - Feds blacklist 'illegal' Cuban Web sites Americans should think twice before booking a Cuban holiday through scores of travel Web sites that the U.S. government has deemed to be off-limits. The U.S. Treasury Department has blacklisted more than 60 Cuba-centric sites, many maintained by a travel company called Tour & Marketing International. The last update to the list was published by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on June 30. http://news.com.com/Feds+blacklist+illegal+Cuban+Web+sites/2100-1028_3-5780117.html - - - - - - - - - - Library flaw puts applications at risk A member of Gentoo Linux' security audit team has found a serious flaw that impacts a wide range of open source and proprietary applications. A security flaw in a widely-used data compression technology could put many software programs at risk of attack, experts have warned. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39207991,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Three critical patches for MS July Patch Tuesday In brief Microsoft plans to release three critical security patches on Tuesday, 12 July. Two of these affect Windows while one affects Office. News of the upcoming patches came in an advance bulletin notification issued Thursday which omits any details about the upcoming security fixes. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/08/ms_july_patch_alert/ - - - - - - - - - - Check Point beefs up spyware defences Check Point Software is to build improved spyware defences into the next version of its ZoneAlarm integrated consumer security software package. ZoneAlarm Security Suite 6, due to be released 18 July, will feature a spyware scanner and an "operating system" firewall. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/08/zonealarm_spyware_defence/ - - - - - - - - - - Closed-circuit TV may aid London bombing investigation Several thousand video cameras monitor London's underground and mainline rail stations. London's network of closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras may help investigators track down those responsible for yesterdays terrorist bomb attacks, which have left more than 50 people dead and several hundred injured, police said today. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/recovery/story/0,10801,103027,00.html - - - - - - - - - - X-rated 'GTA: San Andreas': Hack or Easter egg? Graphic sexual content that appears in a popular video game is giving family advocates a new reason to be offended. In the sex-and-violence-themed game ``Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,'' the main character tries to avenge the murder of his mother in the gang-ridden streets of his hometown -- and picks up women along the way. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/12087992.htm http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8515870/ *********************************************************** 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.