NewsBits for August 26, 2005 ************************************************************ Moroccan, Turk arrested over worm outbreak A Moroccan and a Turk were arrested in their home countries by local police yesterday in connection with the worm attacks that hit several large organizations last week. Farid Essebar, 18, of Morocco, and Atilla Ekici, 21, from Turkey, are believed to have been responsible for the creation and the distribution of the Zotob, Rbot and Mytob worms, said Louis Reigel, assistant director of the FBIs Cyber Division in a press conference today (See New worms hit U.S. media outlets, companies ). http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,104200,00.html http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11297 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5843583.html http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1072416 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/12485114.htm http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36816-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Feds Bust Spam Porn Operation A Phoenix federal grand injury has indicted three individuals for multiple violations of the CAN SPAM Act including sending unsolicited obscene materials, money laundering and criminal conspiracy. A fourth defendant in the alleged conspiracy has already pleaded guilty and marks the first CAN SPAM conviction related to the transmission of obscene e-mail. http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3530386 - - - - - - - - - - 40,000 euros offered for identities of online blackmailers The online gambling site jaxx.de operated by Fluxx AG of Hamburg has been blackmailed since Sunday with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack for payment of 40,000 euros to the perpetrators, who are probably in eastern Europe. The company did not give in to the demand, but instead immediately contacted the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the German Bureau for Security in Information Technology (BSI) to put an end to the criminal actions. http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/63238 - - - - - - - - - - America under cyberattack from China Web sites in China are being used as a staging ground for attacks on computer networks in the US Defense Department and other agencies, according to news reports. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39215173,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - ID theft ring escapes shutdown An ID theft ring that has hit thousands of people is proving hard to shut down. Discovered by US security fim Sunbelt Software, the scam used keyloggers to steal data stored by Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. Variants of the original bug are popping up and sending data to other servers and are continuing to harvest data from unwitting victims' machines. Tools are now appearing to help people find out if they are infected and to remove the sophisticated bug. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4186972.stm - - - - - - - - - - Pa. student hackers quietly offered deals Most of the 13 students accused of tinkering with their school-issued laptop computers to download programs and spy on administrators are being offered deals in which the felony charges would be dropped, lawyers and a family member say. In return, the students would perform 15 hours of community service, write an apology, take a class on personal responsibility and serve a few months probation, the attorneys said. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/tech/D8C7M2N02.htm - - - - - - - - - - Navy officer loses porn appeal What: A Navy officer appeals his conviction on child pornography charges. When: Decided July 19 by the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. Outcome: Sentence of 12 months imprisonment and dismissal upheld. What happened: When Brendan Forney was serving on the destroyer U.S.S. David R. Ray, he amassed a collection of more than 50,000 image files, according to the court. Some included photographs of underage "girls having their genitalia exposed and/or engaged in sex acts with adults," in the words of the court. http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-5843123.html - - - - - - - - - - Spokane Mayor Seeks to Block Computer Info Lawyers for Mayor Jim West, the subject of a recall petition drive over a City Hall sex scandal, have asked a court to block the release of copies of potentially embarrassing contents of computer hard drives. In a sworn affidavit filed Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court to support the request for a temporary restraining order, West said his city-owned computer's hard drive may contain information relating to "personal social contacts" from his use of the device outside City Hall. http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1081190 - - - - - - - - - - California shelves RFID ban California legislators have shelved a closely watched bill that would temporarily ban driver's licenses and other state documents that incorporate wireless identification technology. The Identity Information Protection Act of 2005, or SB 628, is designed to address concerns that new high-tech IDs could facilitate the broad monitoring of citizens. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5843867.html - - - - - - - - - - Pornography site files suit against Google Perfect 10 alleges that Google is infringing its copyright by displaying and linking to thousands of its images. Adult content publisher Perfect 10 is seeking an injunction against Google to stop the search giant from allegedly displaying copyright images of its models. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39215191,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Trojan Poses As Plug And Play Patch A Trojan horse not connected to last week's Zotob blitz on vulnerable Windows 2000 PCs is nevertheless taking advantage of the scare, security researchers said Friday, by posing as a patch against the Microsoft bug. A new variant of the Downloader Trojan presents itself as a patch for the vulnerability outlined in the MS05-039 bulletin Microsoft released earlier in August. That vulnerability was used by Zotob just days later to attack Windows 2000 machines, and may be used in the near future to break into some Windows XP systems. http://www.techweb.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170100762 - - - - - - - - - - Flaw may hide malicious software Miscreants could hide their malicious software on a Windows PC by using overly long registry keys, security experts have warned. These keys are stored in the Windows Registry, a core part of the operating system that stores PC settings. Some antivirus and anti-spyware products scan the registry for malicious programs, but this new weakness allows hackers to hide the presence of their applications, according to security vendor StillSecure. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5843863.html Windows Flaw May Let Hackers Hide Code From AV Scanners A flaw in how Windows handles entries in the all- important registry can be used by hackers to hide evidence of malicious code from a wide swath of commercial anti-virus and anti-spyware scanners, the SANS Internet Storm Center reported Friday. While the disclosure of the bug by Danish vulnerability tracker Secunia on Wednesday got little attention, Internet Storm Center (ISC) analysts believed it was far more dangerous than it looked. http://www.techweb.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170100835 - - - - - - - - - - DOD's 'Manhattan Project' With mission-critical networks under attack, DOD works to plug holes. Taking a page from the past and one from the future, the Defense Department is devising ways to fight a new kind of threat that requires the strategic tricks of ancient warriors and the untested tools of network-centric warfare. http://www.fcw.com/article90416-08-25-05 - - - - - - - - - - Public Largely Ignorant of Online Dangers Says New Poll The UK public is largely ignorant of the threats they face online and subsequently are at greater risk than ever of having their home computers infected with malicious software and suffering dire consequences such as having their bank accounts emptied. The research, commissioned by StreamShield Networks, revealed that just 16% of the public had heard of the term key loggers malicious programs that easily infect PCs and record confidential password details. Furthermore, only 24% had heard of the term phishing bogus emails purporting to be from ones bank asking for account information, with the intention of stealing funds. http://www.crime-research.org/news/26.08.2005/1454/ - - - - - - - - - - Who's Catching The Cybercrooks? Stopping Internet business crime may be too much for any one agency or government. In 2004, after months of putting a virtual tail on a hacker who called himself Pherk, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Timothy Nestor had the guy right where he wanted him. Though unsure of Pherk's identity, Special Agent Nestor was tracking every digital footstep the hacker took as he wreaked havoc on dozens of businesses by shutting down their online storefronts. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122245,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Bush, Pornographers Bash .XXX Amazon is selling sex toys. KY has expanded beyond its pharmaceutical niche to launch a line of massage oils that double as lube. And Bush and the porn industry are united against the proposed .xxx top-level domain. Sex DriveI don't know whether to be amazed or scared that the adult industry and the Bush administration agree about something. When the extremes come together, where's the middle ground for the rest of us to stand on? http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,68640,00.html - - - - - - - - - - D.C. first responders to get smart cards In an emergency, police, firefighters and other first responders are often the right people at the right place at the right time. The Homeland Security Department will soon issue Washington, D.C.-area responders smart cards to ensure they are. Starting in January 2006, the 12 jurisdictions in Maryland, Viriginia and the District of Columbia that comprise the National Capital Region will distribute smart cards to their first responders, Craig A. Wilson, first responder partnership coordinator for DHS Office of National Capital Region Coordination (ONCRC), said today. http://www.fcw.com/article90456-08-26-05-Web *********************************************************** 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.