NewsBits for March 3, 2006 sponsored by Digital Investigation - The International Journal of Digital Forensics & Incident Response - www.digitalinvestigation.net ************************************************************ Men used MySpace.com to meet underage girls for sex Federal authorities have targeted two men who they say used the website MySpace.com to set up sexual encounters with underage Connecticut girls. The prosecution is being described as the first federal sex cases involving the popular networking site. http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4578381&nav=menu36_3 MySpace.com to bolster security measures http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11654024/ - - - - - - - - - - 20 Calif. students suspended for looking at MySpace site A middle school student faces expulsion for allegedly posting graphic threats against a classmate on the popular MySpace.com website, and 20 of his classmates were suspended for viewing the posting, school officials said. Police are investigating the boy's comments about his classmate at TeWinkle Middle School as a possible hate crime, and the district is trying to expel him. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-03-03-myspace_x.htm http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=010000008ZHK - - - - - - - - - - State college in Colorado warns 93,000 after laptop theft Student-employee had sensitive info on machine A state college in Denver believes it may have lost sensitive information on more than 93,000 students after one of the school's laptop computers was stolen from an employee's home late last month. The unnamed employee of Metropolitan State College had been using the information, including student names and Social Security numbers, to write a grant proposal, the college said Thursday. The data, which appears to have been unencrypted, was also being used by the employee to write a master's degree thesis, the school said. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,109208,00.html - - - - - - - - - - 2 Hoke teachers get child porn charges Two Hoke County teachers were released on bail Thursday after being charged with having pornographic videos of minors on their home computer. Ronald Dennison, 41, and Christian Alvin Baumgart, 26, were arrested Wednesday at their home in the 100 block of Providence Street in Fayetteville, said Jamie Smith, public information officer for the Fayetteville Police Department. http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/413727.html - - - - - - - - - - Child porn suspect: I'm not guilty A former Berkeley firefighter facing 57 counts of misdemeanor possession of child pornography pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday in an Alameda County Superior courtroom. Luis Ponce Jr., 49, is due back in court May 11 for a preliminary hearing, Alameda County prosecutor John Creighton said. At the conclusion of the hearing, a judge will decide whether the state has enough evidence to bring Ponce to trial. http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/localnews/ci_3565560 - - - - - - - - - - Suspect's house arrest would have been next to day care A man facing child pornography charges will NOT be allowed to remain under house arrest at his parents' home. A federal magistrate rescinded his decision to release Jon Blaisdell on bail after learning that the suspect's parents lived next to a family day-care center. http://www.eyewitnessnewstv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4579814 - - - - - - - - - - Blackberry maker settles patent dispute for $612.5M Research In Motion (RIMM), the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device, Friday announced it has settled its long-running patent dispute with a small Virginia- based firm, averting a possible court-ordered shutdown of the BlackBerry system. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-03-03-blackberry-settlement_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Ohio secretary of state sued over ID info posted online The inclusion of residents Social Security numbers online is being challenged. An Ohio man is suing the Ohio secretary of state for posting his and other residents Social Security numbers for years on state Web sites where publicly searchable records are stored, showing retail purchases made using credit cards or bank loans. http://computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,109213,00.html - - - - - - - - - - DoJ 'to probe music download pricing' US Department of Justice investigators have begun to probe major music labels' download pricing policies, sources close to the world's four biggest recording companies told Billboard magazine. According to the report, the DoJ has started sending out subpoenas to Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony BMG and Universal Music Group, though only EMI would comment officially, claiming it had yet to receive anything from the DoJ. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/03/doj_music_probe/ - - - - - - - - - - French MPs vote on digital piracy French MPs who have already voted once to legalise the online sharing of music and films are to consider the matter again next week. In December they backed a move to allow internet users to download as much material as they want in exchange for a small fee. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4770458.stm - - - - - - - - - - Breach notification laws: When should companies tell all? While there appears to be growing industry consensus that security breach notification laws have forced companies to take more responsibility for the data they own, there is little agreement on exactly when companies should be required to notify consumers when a data breach occurs. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,109161,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Police blotter: Cell phone tracking rejected What: Invoking the Patriot Act and other surveillance laws, the Feds try to track the location of a cell phone without providing any evidence of criminal activity. When: Decided Feb. 27 by Magistrate Judge James Bredar in Maryland; and Feb. 28 by Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck in New York. http://news.com.com/Police+blotter+Cell+phone+tracking+rejected/2100-1030_3-6045827.html - - - - - - - - - - Virus promises nude Paris Hilton pics Either that or a bogus legal summons. A new worm is spreading over the internet using a variety of social engineering techniques, including pretending to be a legal summons or offering pictures of Paris Hilton. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2151349/hackers-try-legal-challenge - - - - - - - - - - Antivirus groups fight over Crossover sharing A virus that spreads from PCs to mobile devices has become the focus of a power play between the antivirus industry and the relatively young Mobile Antivirus Research Association, which obtained the only sample of the program. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11379 - - - - - - - - - - 'Keylogger text' spooks Symantec Script kiddies have latched onto a minor glitch in Symantec security software to boot users off Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels. Typing "startkeylogger" or "stopkeylogger" in an IRC channel results in the involuntary logoff of users of Norton Firewall and Norton Internet Security suites, The Washington Post reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/03/symantec_security_glitch/ - - - - - - - - - - Symantec Offers Free Online Threat Meter "Consumers should feel confident about their security when they are online, whether they are communicating via e-mail, conducting financial transactions on the Internet, chatting over instant messaging, or sharing files," said Arthur Wong, vice president of Symantec Security Response and Managed Security Services. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=010000008Z4S - - - - - - - - - - Readers amazed by Ernst & Young's laptop giveaway Your data is exposed password protected. Last month, Ernst and Young lost five laptops (that we know about). The accounting firm didn't really hold itself accountable for the missing hardware. It only copped to the losses after being contacted by reporters and downplayed the situations, saying password protection would keep customers information safe. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/04/ey_letters/ - - - - - - - - - - Survey finds mixed feelings on Web censorship The studys author found the results disturbing Americans dont seem to be too upset with the idea that the Peoples Republic of China is censoring Internet content perused by its residents using the Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines. In a recent study of 1,056 people in the U.S., the Ponemon Institute LLC, an independent research group in Elk Rapids, Mich., found that 47% of the respondents said search companies shouldnt let governments restrict their residents online content searches; 40% said search engine companies should follow the laws set by each country. Another 13% were unsure. http://computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,109212,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Password Security: What Users Know and What They Actually Do Password protected accounts are very common and widely used for a variety of online applications including instant messaging, personal and business e-mail, and online banking and retail purchasing accounts. Given the sensitivity of the information within these accounts and the potential for abuse and misuse of this information by others, one might suspect that users would create very secure passwords. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5803/password_security_what_users_know_what_they_actually_do/ - - - - - - - - - - vnunet.com analysis: crunch year for mobile viruses? The news this week that mobile phone users are facing the first virus that doesn't just attack smartphones, but most Java phones, means that mobile owners now have to take the threat of mobile viruses seriously. The new RedBrowser code is not the mass virus that some people have been predicting, but it's a worrying sign that virus writers are getting much smarter. And a similar virus for the Pocket PC operating system proves that http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2151359/crunch-mobile-viruses - - - - - - - - - - MS developer responds to backdoor speculation In a MSDN blog posting yesterday, a Microsoft developer responds to speculation about BitLocker providing government back-doors with a resounding "Over my dead body." The speculation was centered around a BBC News posting several weeks ago where UK officials were said to be in talks with Microsoft regarding back-door functionality for its upcoming Windows Vista operating system. The blog author, Neils Ferguson mentions that Microsoft is indeed talking to governments but in the context of helping them use BitLocker for their own needs. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/155 - - - - - - - - - - Internet harassment roils world's most-wired country Kim Hyo-bi doesn't want her picture taken any more. Not after the 22-year-old student's portrait wound up on a photo-sharing Web site last summer with her face colored and distorted to make her look silly, titled alongside the original as ``Before and After.'' http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/14010430.htm - - - - - - - - - - Report: Computer problems plague NSA Two major computer projects have apparently caused headaches for the National Security Agency, the secretive arm of the U.S. military tasked with gathering intelligence and protecting government communications, according to an investigative report published in The Baltimore Sun. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/154 - - - - - - - - - - Device confirms that the finger is still attached to its owner A fingerprint recognition device which confirms that the finger is still attached to its owner will be demonstrated at a US government technology conference next week. Nitgen Co of Korea will show the new product at the FOSE 2006 government technology exposition in Washington, show organisers said in a press release. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2151336/asia-news-roundup-030306 - - - - - - - - - - Serving Up Porn in HD Over IP Imagine yourself on a big squishy couch inside a closed booth at the adult entertainment trade show in Las Vegas. Against one wall, a gigantic high-definition television set shows gorgeous people, almost life-sized, having sex somewhere luxurious and tropical. Against another, a slightly smaller flat-panel TV displays the same video in standard definition. http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,70327-0.html ************************************************************ Digital Investigation is the international journal of digital forensics and incident response. 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