NewsBits for August 31, 2005 ************************************************************ Cyber-cops arrest 16 more Zotob suspects Experts at SophosLabs, the security firm's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centres, have welcomed the news that the FBI and Turkish authorities have identified 16 more individuals suspected of assisting in the Zotob and Mytob worm outbreaks. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2141668/zotob-arrests http://news.softpedia.com/news/New-Arrests-in-the-Zotob-Case-7349.shtml http://www.internetweek.com/news/170101495 http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/12504420.htm Zeroing In on Mytob-Zotob Crime Ring http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/08/zeroing_in_on_m.html - - - - - - - - - - More charges for L.A. man in ChoicePoint ID theft Oluwatunji Oluwatosin now faces 22 more charges, L.A. prosecutors say. Nigerian man has been indicted for infiltrating the personal data firm ChoicePoint Inc. to fraudulently access financial records of consumers in a still-widening case that has spurred calls for tighter regulation of the consumer information business. http://computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,104276,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Three spammers face obscenity and CAN-SPAM charges Three spammers were indicted in Pheonix last week for sending obscene spam in violation of US anti-spam regulations. The three were also charged with breaches of federal obscenity, money laundering and conspiracy laws. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/three_spammers_face_obscenity_charges/ - - - - - - - - - - Finleyville man sentenced on child porn conviction A Finleyville man was sentenced Friday in federal court to 30 months in a federal prison for his conviction of possession of child pornography. James Bricker, 53, of 21 Vista Lane, possessed more than 100 images of child pornography, some of which he personally produced, stated a press elease from U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan. http://www.observer-reporter.com/296523071894082.bsp - - - - - - - - - - Psychiatrist Accused of Downloading Child Porn A psychiatrist who formerly worked at Wasatch Mental Health and the state hospital has been indicted on child pornography charges. Fifty- three-year-old Bruce Guernsey was indicted last week in U-S District Court. He is accused of downloading child pornography off the Internet. The federal complaint said Guernsey asked an acquaintance to help him set up a computer. The acquaintance, who was not identified, helped transfer files from an old computer and noticed some were child porn. The unnamed person then went to the F-B-I. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=100495 - - - - - - - - - - Gaming addicts do time for neglecting kids The parents of four kids have been sentenced to three months in jail for neglect, after becoming addicted to internet gaming. It emerged in court that both parents had become utterly engrossed in the online gaming world - the 28-year-old father spent all his waking hours playing online, the BBC reports. Neighbours spotted two of the children standing naked on a window ledge, and called the police. The subsequent investigation uncovered what Arbroath Sheriff Court, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/gaming_jail/ http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2141681/couple-jailed-games-addiction - - - - - - - - - - RIAA sues 754 more file swappers The recording industry on Wednesday filed its latest round of copyright infringement lawsuits, targeting 754 people it claims used online file- sharing networks to illegally trade in songs. The lawsuits were filed in federal district courts across the country, including California, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The world's major record labels, represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, have filed more than 14,000 such lawsuits since September 2003. http://news.com.com/RIAA+sues+754+more+file+swappers/2110-1027_3-5845136.html - - - - - - - - - - Senate considers tax on Internet pornography A bill designed to protect children from Internet pornography and to support law enforcement and other efforts to combat Internet and pornography- related crimes against children has been introduced in the United States Senate. S 1507, which sets forth the proposed Internet and Safety and Child Protection Act of 2005, is sponsored by Senator Blanche Lincoln (AR). http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/ericjsinrod/2005-08-31-internet-porn-tax_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - New Delhi police get broad powers to seize pirated movies A New Delhi court has issued a warrant that gives police broad powers to search for and seize pirated movies in any part of the city, an official from an association of U.S. film companies said Wednesday. The warrant covers the entire city and was issued July 19 by a New Delhi magistrate at the request of the Motion Picture Association, the global arm of the Motion Picture Association of America, said Chander Lall, a lawyer for the group. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/12524321.htm - - - - - - - - - - F-Secure: Commwarrior claims first big victim The first serious outbreak of a mobile-phone virus in a company has been detected, according to security specialist F-Secure. F-Secure security expert Patrick Runald said Tuesday that an outbreak of the Commwarrior.B virus occured at an unnamed Scandinavian company last Wednesday."This is the first time a mobile virus has infected an organization," Runald said. "It's a particularly nasty version of Commwarrior, as it just doesn't give up." http://news.com.com/F-Secure+Commwarrior+claims+first+big+victim/2100-7349_3-5845021.html - - - - - - - - - - Hidden-code flaw in Windows renews worries over stealthy malware Last week, the Internet Storm Center, a group of security professionals that track threats on the Net, flagged a flaw in how a common Microsoft Windows utility and several anti-spyware utilities detect system changes made by malicious software. By using long names for registry keys, spyware programs could, in a simple way, hide from such utilities yet still force the system to run the malicious program every time the compromised computer starts up. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/spyware_writers_get_more_sophisticated/ - - - - - - - - - - Capita takes the blame for tax security lapse A Labour councillor is demanding an inquiry after an IT upgrade exposed the details of Lambeth council tax payers IT services company Capita has apologised for the "regrettable error" that saw the personal information and credit card details of local residents in Lambeth, London, emailed as plain text. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39215761,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Questions Surround Smartphone Security "Few wireless PDAs meet our security requirements right out of the box," says Tamara Box, consultant with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which has seen rising use of wireless PDAs in the last year among healthcare staff. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=001000000TCI - - - - - - - - - - HP warns over OpenView flaw Enterprise users are been urged to apply workarounds following the discovery of a potentially troublesome vulnerability involving a component of HP's widely used network management suite, HP OpenView. A security bug in Network Node Manager opens the door to possible hacker attack, according to work by security researchers at Portcullis Computer Security and NGS Software. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/hp_openview_security_bug/ - - - - - - - - - - Alternative Web browsers pose challenge for cybersleuths The advent of Firefox and other Web browser alternatives to Internet Explorer means cybercops have to learn new tricks for their investigations. Internet Explorer hides nothing from cops and other investigators who examine PCs to discover which sites the user has visited. They know the location of the IE browser cache, cookie files and history and know how to read those files. Also, popular forensics tools can help out. http://news.com.com/Alternative+Web+browsers+pose+challenge+for+cybersleuths/2100-7348_3-5845409.html - - - - - - - - - - New Microsoft portal will help cops Expanding its efforts to help law enforcement with cybercrime investigations, Microsoft plans in the coming months to launch a new online resource. The Web site will include training, tips and tools for investigations and information on cybercrime, Richard LaMagna, director of worldwide law enforcement programs at Microsoft, said in an interview with CNET News.com on Wednesday at the annual High Technology Crime Investigation Association event here. http://news.com.com/New+Microsoft+portal+will+help+cops/2100-7348_3-5845205.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft adds antiphishing tool to IE The browser add-in is due to be released today Microsoft Corp. later today plans to release a pair of add-ins to its MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search, including one that detects Web sites that could be used to carry out phishing scams, according to an Microsoft official. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,104287,00.html http://www.sda-asia.com/sda/news/psecom,id,3730,nodeid,4,_language,Singapore.html UK misses out on Microsoft phishing protection http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39215897,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - IRS requires professional e-filers to use approved encryption The IRS has directed e-file program participants who transmit directly to the agencys Electronic Management System to use only IRS-approved encryption methods for the 2006 and subsequent filing seasons. Transmitters who directly submit returns to the IRS system must use the IRS Internet application or purchase and install in IRS facilities encrypted and dedicated leased lines that are federal standards-compliant and IRS-approved, the agency said recently in the Federal Register. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36852-1.html - - - - - - - - - - BTK Named 'HTCIA Most Significant Case for 2005' HTCIA (High Technology Crime Investigation Association), the world's largest organization for high technology crime investigators, today announced it named the BTK homicide case the "HTCIA Most Significant Case for 2005" during the HTCIA 2005 International Conference & Expo being held August 29-31, 2005 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort in Monterey, California. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-30-2005/0004096896&EDATE= Group honors high-tech work on BTK http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/local/12478662.htm Law Enforcement Officer, Groups Honored for BTK Work http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/1696086.html - - - - - - - - - - The Art of (Cyber) War Modern warfare is increasingly de pendent on advanced computers, and no country's armed forces are more reliant on the Digital Age than ours are. This is both the American military's greatest technological strength - and, regrettably, its greatest weakness. http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=7860 - - - - - - - - - - Lynn's actions at Black Hat weren't noble It was a case of stolen intellectual property I read the latest Security Manager's Journal, "Peers Say Cisco Ended Up Wearing the Black Hat," written by C.J. Kelly, and I was somewhat surprised by the gist of the comments. But I guess I shouldn't be. It's another case where the details of a situation take a back seat to the hype surrounding it. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,104274,00.html - - - - - - - - - - UPS deploys new customs security technology It hopes to help customers speed up cross-border commerce. United Parcel Service Inc. has deployed a trade-processing system developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that's designed to speed up cross-border commerce and improve security at U.S. borders. http://computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/story/0,10801,104284,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Can adult net porn crackdown work? Accessing extreme adult pornography over the internet could become illegal under proposed new legislation. Offenders could face up to three years in jail - but how difficult would it be to enforce such legislation? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4198302.stm - - - - - - - - - - Disposable credit card? That'll do nicely Permanent TSB and Visa are encouraging Irish shoppers to go online with the launch of a new disposable credit card voucher. About 67 per cent of Irish adults do not have a credit card, leaving them unable to book flights and tickets, buy music or shop online. However, the new credit card voucher from Permanent TSB is hoping to change that. Similar to mobile phone top-up vouchers, the new voucher has a unique credit card number and a set credit limit. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/ireland_disposable_credit_card/ - - - - - - - - - - NY subway perv busted by mobe snap New York's finest are currently hunting a "smirking sicko" who, having exposed himself on the city's subway to a 22-year-old web developer, found himself exposed across cyberspace and the NY Daily News after the quick-thinking victim snapped him on her mobe's* camera. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/ny_flasher_dragnet/ - - - - - - - - - - Chinese mobe sellers bundle smut to boost sales Enterprising mobile resellers in eastern China's Anhui Province are bundling free porno clips in order to boost sales of the latest multimedia handsets. Xinhua, China's official news agency, reports that one of its staffers was offered mucky clips as a purchase incentive when he asked for a demo of the video playing feature of a Motorola E398 handset in a store in the city of Bengbu. Sadly the content of the clips remains a mystery. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/china_smut_boosts_mobiles_sales/ - - - - - - - - - - On blocking Chinese IP addresses In the 1980s, I was unbeatable in Trivial Pursuit, and to this day, I still possess a love of trivia. Here's some neat facts about the Great Wall of China. Did you know... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/blocking_chinese_ip_addresses/ *********************************************************** 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. 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