NewsBits for September 7, 2005 ************************************************************ Ex-student sentenced for computer hacking A former University of Texas at Austin student has been sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $170,000 in restitution for hacking into the school's computer system and taking Social Security numbers and other personal information from tens of thousands of people. Christopher Andrew Phillips, 22, was also prohibited from accessing the Internet, except under approval and supervision from his probation officer and only for school or work, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said in a news release Tuesday. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2005-09-07-ex-texas-hacker_x.htm http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9239576/ - - - - - - - - - - Indian call center worker arrested Police have arrested a call center worker for alleged theft of personal customer information that the firm was handling for its clients. The arrest was made after the call center, Saffron Global, reported the matter to the police. Company officials said the worker was found copying personal information about customers onto a compact disc. The employee has been booked under various provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. He appeared in a local court on Tuesday and was placed in judicial custody for 14 days. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5852487.html - - - - - - - - - - Sex offender gets 30-month prison term in child porn case A registered sex offender in Tucson has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to three counts of possessing child pornography. Forty-one-year-old David Lader was sentenced yesterday in federal court. Judge Raner Collins gave Lader until October 12th to turn himself into federal authorities. He warned Lader that he'll double the sentence if he doesn't show up. According to court documents, FBI agents found more than 300 illegal images on Lader's computer when a nationwide investigation revealed he subscribed to several child pornography Web sites. http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=3816049 - - - - - - - - - - Guard guilty of having child porn A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a former Highland Park High School security guard of one count of possessing child pornography. But Fabio Carani was acquitted of one count of receiving child pornography, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a similar second count. U.S. District Senior Judge John Grady let the jurors go home after a day and a half of deliberations when they indicated that further deliberations wouldn't help on the one count. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-0509070275sep07,1,3759615.story - - - - - - - - - - Beware Katrina-related Net scams, officials say U.S. government officials warned on Tuesday that scam artists will try to profit from the outpouring of donations to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. After last year's Asian tsunami that killed nearly 300,000 people, the FBI investigated more than 170 Web sites that were preying on donors by mimicking the sites of well-known charities, according to Patrick Meehan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9229950/ - - - - - - - - - - Trojan horse swaps porn for Koran A new Trojan horse program circulating around the Internet this week appears to be on a moral mission to stamp out adult Web sites, according to security research firm Sophos PLC. Instead of snooping for sensitive financial information or secretly taking control of an infected computer, the Trojan, called Yusufali-A, monitors Web surfing habits. When it spots an objectionable term such as "sex" or "exhibition," in the browser's title bar, it hides the Web site and instead pops up a message taken from the Koran, said Gregg Mastoras, a senior security analyst with Sophos. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,104441,00.html http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1856315,00.asp http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/yusufali.html http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=4348 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5851679.html - - - - - - - - - - New Cisco flaw could pose threat to Net A serious flaw in Cisco Systems software puts computer networks at risk of cyberattack and has prompted security vendor Symantec to raise its Internet threat level. A vulnerability in Cisco's Internetwork Operating System could be exploited to crash or remotely run malicious code on devices that run IOS, the San Jose, Calif., networking giant warned Wednesday in a security advisory. IOS runs on Cisco's routers and switches, which make up a large portion of the Internet's infrastructure. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5853330.html - - - - - - - - - - Government panel in India calls for data theft penalties A committee set up by India's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology last week recommended that the government adopt tighter provisions and stiffer penalties for data theft. The committee was formed by ministry officials in January to suggest amendments to the country's Information Technology Act. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,104376,00.html - - - - - - - - - - UK keeps pushing on data retention The Home Secretary has been pushing for tighter data-retention laws through Europe again, but telcos remain unconvinced. Britain, which is pushing for new EU laws on data retention, said on Wednesday that logging and storing telephone calls, email and Internet use had helped its police trap suspected terrorists. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39216935,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Adware maker seeks to thwart rogue installs In a continuing effort to clean up its image, advertising software maker 180solutions has updated its products to thwart rogue distribution. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5853096.html - - - - - - - - - - Bug hunters, software firms in uneasy alliance Tom Ferris is walking a fine line. He could be Microsoft's friend or foe. Ferris, an independent security researcher in Mission Viejo, Calif., found what he calls a serious vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser. He reported it to the software giant on Aug. 14 via the "secure@microsoft.com" e-mail address and has since exchanged several e-mail messages with a Microsoft researcher. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5846019.html - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft turns to Spamhaus for security help Ed Gibson, newly appointed chief security advisor for Microsoft UK, applauded Internet security and anti-spam organisation Spamhaus on Tuesday, particularly for its work with Microsoft. Gibson revealed that Microsoft had used Spamhaus' services to find problems in its own abuse management system, which Microsoft uses to identify which of its products and services are being used by spammers and cybercriminals. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39216742,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Trail of Online Clues Lead to Zotob Suspects The arrests of two men in connection with the recent Zotob worm followed an intensive investigation by Microsoft Corp., which was aided by a trail of online clues left by the men, those familiar with the investigation said. Partner Resource Center The FBI last week confirmed the arrests of Farid Essebar, 18, of Morocco, and Atilla Ekici, 21, of Turkey, in connection with the recent Zotob Internet worm, and Mytob, another wide-spreading worm that first appeared in February. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1854429,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Privacy International demands Yahoo boycott The human-rights group is calling for action over claims Yahoo is 'cheerfully sacrificing human rights in return for a cut of the Chinese market'. Privacy International (PI) has called on Internet users to boycott Yahoo over allegations that the Web giant provided information that helped Chinese officials convict a journalist accused of leaking state secrets. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39216936,00.htm Yahoo 'helped jail Chinese journalist' http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39216739,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - CA tailors security suite for midmarket users Computer Associates plans to release in October a security-product bundle designed for Microsoft's Windows Server System for Midsize Business promotion. The CA bundle, called the Business Protection Suite for Midsize Business for Windows, will include antivirus, anti-spyware, and data backup and restoration software, as well as desktop migration technologies, the Islandia, N.Y., company said in a statement Wednesday. The bundle will be available in 10 languages and will support 50 users for $6,995, CA said. http://news.com.com/CA+tailors+security+suite+for+midmarket+users/2110-1029_3-5852742.html - - - - - - - - - - Spam may be a future threat to VoIP Voice over IP may be gaining ground in the consumer market, but companies are taking their VoIP deployments one step at a time, generally using the technology within the confines of the enterprise network. Businesses are not too concerned about VoIP security either, according to industry experts. And as long as VoIP communications are within the bounds of the company network, security is a no-brainer, they say. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,104442,00.html - - - - - - - - - - DOD Attacks Renew Fears Speculation swirls about cyber-terrorism potential. It's been more than a decade since the first breathless warnings were issued from Seoul: According to South Korean information security experts, the hard-line communists of North Korea in 1994 were busily training a cadre of superhackers at the totalitarian state's Automated Warfare Institute. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1853995,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Gee, I Think I Have a Virus Opinion: System error or malware? Windows can keep you guessing. When strange, inexplicable things happen on your Windows computer, what do you assume is the cause? Probably, you'll think you have a virus, or some spyware, or one of those other bad things you read about even in the local newspaper. But you may be wrong. Very few things about Windows are inexplicable to Mark Russinovich, co-founder of Winternals Software and author of numerous essential Windows tools and books. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1855391,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Big debate over small packets Earlier this year, the Argentinian researcher highlighted several attacks that could disrupt network connections using the Internet control message protocol, or ICMP, and proposed four changes to the structure and handling of network- data packets that would essentially eliminate the risk. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11306 - - - - - - - - - - Staff smartcard to boost Underground safety London Underground plans to improve safety procedures by making its proposed staff smartcard scheme compatible with systems used by Network Rail. Tube Lines and Metronet Rail, the two public-private partnerships responsible for upgrading the London Underground network, are close to appointing an IT supplier to design the smartcard scheme, which will authenticate more than 30,000 maintenance staff and contractors http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2142007/staff-smartcard-boost - - - - - - - - - - Four women finger NY subway perv Dan Hoyt - the "smirking sicko" who exposed himself to a 22-year-old woman on New York's subway and became a net celebrity for his trouble - has been released on $5,000 bail after appearing in court on four charges of subway flashing. The fugitive from justice finally gave himself up last Wednesday and was picked from a line-up by four of his alleged victims. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/07/ny_flasher_in_court/ *********************************************************** 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.