NewsBits for February 16, 2006 ************************************************************ Nasa hacker case adjourned over extradition fears A UK judge will not allow Gary McKinnon to be extradited unless the US can guarantee he won't be subject to its anti-terrorism laws. Gary McKinnon, the UK citizen accused of hacking into computer systems run by Nasa and the US military, will not be extradited across the Atlantic to face trial unless the US can guarantee that he won't be treated as a terrorist. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39252962,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Security Breach Reported in N.H. Computers New Hampshire's state computer system was breached, possibly by a hacker seeking residents' credit card numbers, Gov. John Lynch said Wednesday. The breach involved online and in-person transactions in various locations, including motor vehicle offices and state liquor stores. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502764.html - - - - - - - - - - U.S.: Kumar altered computer Prosecutors say former CA chairman and other defendant tampered with possible evidence Former CA chairman and chief executive Sanjay Kumar and another CA executive obstructed justice by attempting to erase evidence from computers after the federal government began investigating accounting fraud at the software company, prosecutors say in a letter to defense attorneys. http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-bzca164628531feb16,0,3363165.story http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/13880720.htm - - - - - - - - - - Keith's actor faces child porn charge The mutton-chopped actor best known as the beer- obsessed spokesman for Alexander Keith's has been arrested in Toronto for allegedly downloading child pornography. Robert Norman Smith, 40, turned himself in at Toronto Police's 53 Division yesterday following an undercover investigation that resulted in a search warrant being executed at his residence on Tuesday. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=e7dd0983-599e-41fa-a18b-8e20c7e01818&k=6668 - - - - - - - - - - Hazleton police detail child porn sting operation, arrest A sting operation led by Hazleton police last week caught a child pornographer by surprise, a detective in the case said. A federal grand jury in Scranton handed down an indictment Tuesday against 61-year-old Jeffrey Boyd, of Rochester, N.Y., for allegedly taking pornographic pictures of a 6-year-old Hazleton girl. http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/13884710.htm - - - - - - - - - - Visitor arrested over child porn A GERMAN man who allegedly tried to import child pornography had been arrested at a Melbourne airport, Customs said today. The 35-year-old's bags were searched at Melbourne International Airport on Tuesday after he arrived on a flight from Cambodia, Customs said. "During the examination, a laptop computer and a quantity of photographs, film negatives and DVDs were located," The Australian Customs Service (ACS) said today. http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,18167573%255E1702,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Congressman wants retailer ID'd in data breach In nearly identical letters to the chief executives of Visa USA and MasterCard International, Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank said a company responsible for security systems that are breached should be the one to notify customers, or should be identified publicly as the party responsible for the breach. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040290.html - - - - - - - - - - Lawmakers try again to ban Net gambling More than 100 lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday to outlaw the $12 billion Internet gambling industry. "The explosive growth of the Internet has provided a means for gambling operations to evade existing anti-gambling laws," said Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat. "These Internet gambling Web sites typically operate offshore and often serve as a prime vehicle for money laundering and other criminal enterprises." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11396823/ - - - - - - - - - - Net censorship angers House High-tech execs get an earful over China policies. Halfway through an extraordinary congressional hearing Wednesday about the role of U.S. high-tech giants in censoring the Internet in China, Rep. Tom Lantos tried to cut through all the legalese. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/13885725.htm Net Firms Faulted on China Actions http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-chiinternet16feb16,1,3884097.story China defends right to police Internet http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/13887127.htm - - - - - - - - - - FBI warns on international cyber-criminals Hacker hunters need to develop new techniques to take on the latest generation of cyber criminals. That's according to FBI Director Robert Mueller, who told attendees of the RSA Conference 2006 that the FBI increasingly had to deal with organised groups of criminals, operating across international borders. http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=5387 FBI chief asks valley for help http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/13885779.htm http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040521.html FBI chief wants stronger partnerships http://www.fcw.com/article92354-02-16-06-Web Panel: Security companies in demand http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040297.html - - - - - - - - - - Fraudsters ready with "a scam for everyone" Pyramid schemes, lotteries, phishing or 419 - which will target you? Younger, more affluent consumers are just as likely as vulnerable, older consumers to be targeted by scammers. Research from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) shows that nearly half of the UK population - or 20 million consumers over the age of 15 - have been targeted by a scam. Pyramid schemes, lotteries, phishing or 419 scams are often spread through websites and emails. http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39156510,00.htm Tips & Tweaks: Avoid viruses and phishing scams http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108720,00.html - - - - - - - - - - OS X proof-of-concept Trojan appears A new proof-of-concept Trojan for Apple's OS X computers has appeared. While neither a virus nor the first appearance of malicious code on Mac OS X, the incident is receiving major attention from the Apple community. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/142?ref=rss http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040681.html OS X Trojan appears http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/142 'First' Mac OS X Trojan sighted http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/16/mac_os-x_virus/ Apple hackers encounter a poetic warning http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/13894391.htm - - - - - - - - - - Homeland Security Spells Out Coming Online Threats The top Internet threats for 2006 will include more attacks through instant messages and cell phones, as well as a boost in identity hacks against online brokerage accounts, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance predicted Wednesday. http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=180202429 Homeland Security official suggests outlawing rootkits At least when it comes to such mishaps as the Sony BMG Music Entertainment fiasco, that's what an official from the Department of Homeland Security suggested Thursday. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040726.html Locking down America's Net defenses http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040506.html - - - - - - - - - - Bits and Bytes to Fight Child Pornography European forensic scientists have developed a state-of-the-art computer program to help track down child victims of sexual exploitation on the Internet. The prototype program, which took just a year to develop, can apparently discriminate between the faces of children, youths, and adults with great precision. Dr. Stefanie Ritz-Timme of the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Dusseldorf helped create the software and said it is the first of its kind. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1906159,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Windows Intruder Detection Checklist This document outlines suggested steps for determining whether your Windows system has been compromised. System administrators can use this information to look for several types of break-ins. We also encourage you to review all sections of this document and modify your systems to address potential weaknesses. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5737/windows_intruder_detection_checklist/ Attack code out for latest Microsoft flaw http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040746.html Ending Microsoft's identity crisis http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040529.html - - - - - - - - - - Windows Network and Host-based Anti-Reconnaissance Arxceo has announced an OEM licensing agreement with Port80 Software. Port80 Software will bundle the Ally ip100 and Ally IP1000 appliances, which mask TCP/IP network signatures from detection, with the company's leading ServerMask software, a Microsoft IIS Web server module that obscures the identity of a Windows Web server from potential hackers at the HTTP level. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5732/windows_network_host_based_anti_reconnaissance/ - - - - - - - - - - Firms: Don't expect federated IDs soon Banks and analysts have seen the adoption of two-factor authentication driven by federal requirements and early adopters, but warn users that their pockets might be filled with dongles and smart cards because a universal access token is years away. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/141 - - - - - - - - - - Utility hack led to security overhaul Apprehending a notorious hacker rarely involves a car chase or a team of dedicated private investigators, but in the case of Vitek Boden, life imitated a Hollywood script. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/hacking/story/0,10801,108735,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Security Not Top Of Mind For CEOs; That's Where Cisco Comes In In RSA Conference keynote, CEO Chambers says Cisco will leverage its central role in corporate networks to become a primary provider of security management technology. http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=180202455 Security Risk Management: The Answer to Security http://www.it-observer.com/articles/1064/security_risk_management_answer_security/ Security industry M&As under the spotlight http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39156501,00.htm Is It the End of the Security World as We Know It? http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1927517,00.asp Enterprise WLANs add 3rd Party Security http://www.it-observer.com/news/5733/enterprise_wlans_add_3rd_party_security/ - - - - - - - - - - OASIS stamps approval on WS-Security 1.1 A standards body on yesterday gave final approval to a security specification that is recognized as a foundation for securing distributed applications and Web services. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108731,00.html - - - - - - - - - - GAO: Security, privacy controls threaten U.S. Visit The Homeland Security Department has been so slow in assessing and testing basic system security and privacy controls for the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology that it may be jeopardizing the success of the program, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/38273-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Is Google Desktop 3 a threat to data security? Here's two IT pros who certainly think so... Google Desktop's new search-across-computers feature could put sensitive data at risk and violate US federal data-privacy regulations, according to IT administrators at a public university and a large manufacturing company. Both are banning it from their networks. http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39156523,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Is Skype a wiretap killer? Even as the U.S. government is embroiled in a debate over the legality of wiretapping, the fastest-growing technology for Internet calls appears to have the potential to make eavesdropping a thing of the past. Skype, the Internet calling service recently acquired by eBay Inc., provides free voice calls and instant messaging between users. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/13889705.htm - - - - - - - - - - CIO Jury: Will biometrics replace passwords and PINs? The 'eyes' have it as IT bosses give fingerprint and iris scanning the thumbs-up. Iris and fingerprint-scanning technology will replace passwords and PIN numbers as the long-term answer to identity management problems, according to UK IT chiefs. http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39156520,00.htm Driver's license or national ID card? http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6040655.html - - - - - - - - - - Excellence.gov awardees focus on info-sharing By making state and local sex-offender information available and searchable through a single portal, the Justice Department made it easier for the public to determine whether registered sex offenders live in their neighborhoods. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/38275-1.html *********************************************************** 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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