NewsBits for July 26, 2005
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Russian spammer found beaten to death
One of Russia's best-known spammers has been
found beaten to death in his apartment in central
Moscow, according to police reports. Moscow's
Public Prosecutions Office said that an unnamed
person had found Vardan Kushnir about 35 minutes
after he had received severe head injuries.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2140340/russian-spammer-murdered
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39210800,00.htm
http://mosnews.com/news/2005/07/25/spammerdead.shtml
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UK war driver fined PS500
A man was last week fined PS500 after a British
jury found him guilty of using a neighborhood
wireless broadband connection without permission.
Gregory Straszkiewicz, 24, was also sentenced
to a 12 months conditional discharge after
he was convicted of dishonestly obtaining
an communications service and related offences
at London's Islewoth Crown Court last Wednesday.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11255
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Beauregard Parish Couple Arrested for Child Porn
Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy
Robert McCullough says 33 year old Timothy A.
Brannon and 31 year old Kimberly A. Brannon face
102 counts of pornography involving juveniles.
Deputies searched the Brannons' home in April,
seizing a computer, floppy discs and compact
discs. McCullough says a computer expert found
numerous pornographic images on the computer
and determined 102 of them involved juveniles.
http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3640407
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Judges refuse to overturn Net obscenity law
A special three-judge panel declined to overturn
a 1996 federal law prohibiting anyone from sending
obscenity across the Internet. The New York panel
on Monday rejected arguments from Barbara Nitke,
a fine art photographer who specializes in
sadomasochistic imagery, who had filed suit
in December 2001 to overturn the law.
http://news.com.com/2110-1028_3-5804970.html
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Police ask for more Internet powers
Senior UK police officers have asked the government
for sweeping new powers to take down Web sites
and obtain private encryption keys. Chief UK police
officers are asking the government for new powers
that would allow them to attack terrorist Web sites.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39210631,00.htm
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First 'cybercrime' treaty advances in Senate
A U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday approved the
world's first treaty targeting "cybercrime,"
clearing the way for a floor vote later this
year. All nine members of the Foreign Relations
Committee who were present said by voice vote
that they broadly agreed with the Council
of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, handing
a hard-won victory to software companies that
are eager for the U.S. to ratify it.
http://news.com.com/First+cybercrime+treaty+advances+in+Senate/2100-7348_3-5805561.html
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Parliament to discuss child porn regulations
ISPs may be forced to reveal whether or not they
are blocking paedophilic Web sites. A Labour MP
has proposed a bill to force ISPs to declare
whether they have taken steps to prevent access
to paedophilic Web sites.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39210638,00.htm
Child porn: ISP regulations set for Commons debate
A Labour MP has proposed a bill to force ISPs to
declare whether they have taken steps to prevent
access to paedophilic websites. Margaret Moran,
the Labour MP for Luton South, has introduced
the bill under the 'Ten Minute Rule', which allows
a brief discussion on the issue but is unlikely
to lead to an immediate change in the law.
http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39150769,00.htm
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Hackers Skip Windows to Embed New Infections
The online security climate continues to deteriorate,
as computer hackers are targeting an increasing
number of popular programs such as the iTunes
music service and software that makes backup
copies of data, according to an Internet
safety study released yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/25/AR2005072501433.html
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Cracking Down on Cyber Crime
Eau Claire Police say they are training more officers
on the computer to keep up with cyber crime, which
changes as technology does. Cyber crime is up across
the country. One thing they're trying to track: the
Canadian lottery scam. It wants people to pay taxes
on a lottery ticket that doesn't exist. Eau Claire
Police Detective Mike Chinander says there is one
thing we all need to keep in mind.
http://www.wqow.com/news/articles/article_4330.shtml
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Initiatives announced to promote good cyber environment for youths
Two new initiatives have been announced to help
combat cyber vices and promote instead a positive
cyber environment among youths. Schools will be
given seed funding to support youth initiated
projects that harness the Internet to enrich
the lives of youths.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/159868/1/.html
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Beware free web services, warns Websense
Cyber criminals are increasingly using blog sites
and other free online services to spread malicious
code, Websense has warned. In the first two weeks
of July, the security company's labs saw more than
500 incidents of such attacks, Websense said on
Monday. The free services are being abused to
install software designed to steal personal
information or hijack a victim's PC.
http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39150741,00.htm
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Microsoft Boosts Antipiracy Efforts
Validation via WGA now is required for all
customers using Windows Update, Microsoft
Update for Windows and the company's download
center. However, security updates remain available
to all Windows users, with or without WGA validation.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12300002QVEO
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TippingPoint seeks bug bounty hunters
Security firm TippingPoint has announced a
programme to increase the speed at which new
vulnerabilities are announced by paying bounties
of up to $20,000 for vulnerability information.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2140342/tipping-point-seeks-bug-bounty
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Survey: ID theft hard to shake off
One in four Americans who fall victim to identity
theft find it a struggle to clear their name,
according to a recent survey. Twenty-eight percent
of victims have been unsuccessful in restoring
their reputations, despite trying for more than
a year on average, the Nationwide Mutual Insurance
said in a report released Tuesday. The survey,
which polled close to 1,100 victims, indicated
that people spend an average of 81 hours working
to resolve their cases.
http://news.com.com/Survey+ID+theft+hard+to+shake+off/2100-1029_3-5805671.html
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