NewsBits for February 24, 2006 ************************************************************ Auditor loses data on thousands of McAfee employees McAfee Inc.'s auditor, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, may be thinking of buying some security software itself, after a Deloitte employee left an unencrypted CD containing sensitive information on thousands of McAfee employees in the back of an airline seat in December. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,109003,00.html http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/147 http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39156741,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Japan arrested record number of people in Web-linked crimes last year The number of people arrested for Web-linked fraud and other crimes in Japan rose almost 52 percent last year to a record 3,161, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The figure was higher than the previous year's record of 2,081 arrests, according to a report issued by the NPA, which began compiling statistics on cybercrimes since 1999. http://news.findlaw.com/ap/ht/58/02-23-2006/eb6000089ffe795f.html - - - - - - - - - - MPAA suits expand war on illegal file trading Widening its legal assault on copyright infringement, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has filed seven lawsuits in U.S. federal courts against search engines and newsgroups affiliated with P2P (peer-to- peer) networks. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108988,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Online prank ends with child porn charges for teen It may have started as a prank, but police in Wayland have another name for Ryan Zylstra's decision to take pictures of classmates having sex: a felony. The 17-year old was arrested and charged with manufacturing, distributing, and using a computer for child pornography. http://wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=23958 - - - - - - - - - - Report: Investigators found child porn images Investigators here found 26 separate images of child pornography on the home computers of a former elementary school social worker, the Forum reported Thursday. Robert Haseltine, 50, of Fargo, pleaded guilty in January to a felony charge of disseminating child pornography in Clay County, Minn. He was sentenced Tuesday to six months of home monitoring and was fined $1,000, under a plea agreement. http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2006/02/24/news/state/110575.txt - - - - - - - - - - Feds trying to further scope out extent of cyber-crime One of the persistent unknowns in the battle against cyber-crime is the true scope of the problem. Since the Internet revolution began a decade ago, U.S. businesses have been so reluctant to report cyber-victimization that experts believe the toll may be substantially higher than anyone estimates, law-enforcement officials say. http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=CYBERCRIME-02-23-06 - - - - - - - - - - Schwab to cover losses due to fraud Responding to growing anxiety about cybercrime, Charles Schwab Corp. on Wednesday joined the small number of online banks and brokerages that publicly promise to cover customer losses from online fraud. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02/23/BUGNEHCT5V1.DTL - - - - - - - - - - InqTana Bluetooth Worm This sole intent of this paper is to address both FUD and Rumors surrounding the release of detailed information about the InqTana proof of concept worm. After reading internet based news over the past few days I have certainly seen my fair share of 'spin' and misconception regarding the results of my research. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5775/inqtana_bluetooth_worm/ - - - - - - - - - - Mac OS X Metadata Exploit Compressed archives can contain resource forks and HFS metadata stored in an invisible __MACOSX folder. Data contained in these resource forks and HFS metadata can mask the real type of a file in the archive, causing shell scripts to execute if users double-click such files. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5777/mac_os_x_metadata_exploit/ - - - - - - - - - - Internet Explorer 7 adds security features Another preview version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, with tabbed browsing, an integrated search box, and RSS support -- all features long taken for granted by Firefox users -- is now available. The Beta 2 preview of Version 7 also sports a much more compact and streamlined interface than that of the current Internet Explorer, with a strong emphasis on dedicating as much of the window as possible to the displayed Web site. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108991,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Adobe Fixes Shockwave Code Execution Flaw A security flaw in Adobe Systems' Macromedia Shockwave Installer could put millions of PC users at risk of code execution attacks, the company warned in an advisory. The flaw, which carries a "critical" rating, affects Shockwave Player 10.1.0.11 and earlier versions. According to Adobe's advisory, the vulnerability occurs only during the installation process, and current users do not need to take action. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1931039,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - IBM unveils software to protect against internal attacks IBM announced a new security product today that helps protect companies from internal attacks on their IT systems. The Identity Risk and Identification software analyzes the activity of users on a network, looking for irregularities that might be a tip-off of unauthorized or improper access. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108989,00.html - - - - - - - - - - DoD Plans To Deploy RFID In Operations With 24 Nations The Department of Defense said Thursday it intends to move forward on plans to use active radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to support collaborative military coalition operations with 24 countries. The partner list was made final late last month. http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/180207572;j - - - - - - - - - - Its time to hone your hacking skills, legally We are all hackers now. At least, we can be. Americans have built our lives on a foundation of silicon and software, with computers in millions of homes and digital music players in millions of shirt pockets. Theyre our gadgets. Why shouldnt we hack them? http://www.it-observer.com/news/5776/its_time_hone_your_hacking_skills_legally/ Legendary hacker Mitnick turns legit http://www.it-observer.com/news/5772/legendary_hacker_mitnick_turns_legit/ - - - - - - - - - - Leader: When context gets lost in the post Anybody thinking twice about corporate blogs yet? Yesterday we saw a news story appearing widely across the web, warning about the latest computer virus to circulate. The warnings appeared to stem from an alert by F-Secure but on closer inspection - by which we mean picking up the phone and talking to F-Secure - it became clear the scare could be traced back to a fairly innocuous post on the company's blog. http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39156761,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Information-sharing underlies agencies' strategies Agencies are focusing this year and next year on ways to extract and share data through modernizing and consolidating infrastructure, as well as making better use of the information that is collected through business processes. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/38327-1.html - - - - - - - - - - FBI RESPONDS TO ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY ON SENTINEL PROGRAM Yesterday's Associated Press wire story New FBI Computer System Already More Costly than Failed Predecessor, contains some statements which may mislead readers. The Sentinel Program is not running behind schedule, nor has its budget already exceeded the cost of the last failed effort. http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel06/sentinalresponse022306.htm *********************************************************** 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 2000-2006, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.