NewsBits for March 23, 2006 sponsored by Digital Investigation - The International Journal of Digital Forensics & Incident Response - www.digitalinvestigation.net ************************************************************ Laptop theft at Fidelity exposes data on 196,000 HP workers Fidelity Investments today confirmed that a laptop containing confidential information on more than 196,000 current and former employees at Hewlett- Packard Co. and its acquisitions was recently stolen from the firm. The theft may have exposed information such as the names, Social Security numbers and compensation details for the workers. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,109816,00.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-03-23-fidelity_x.htm http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11974062/ - - - - - - - - - - 40,000 BP workers exposed in Ernst & Young laptop loss Sun, IBM and Cisco welcome BP to club. Like sands through the hourglass, these are The Days of Ernst & Young laptop loss. Yes, friends, The Register can confirm that BP has been added to the list of Ernst & Young customers whose personal data has been exposed after a laptop theft. BP joins Sun Microsystems, Cisco and IBM in this not so exclusive club. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/23/ey_bp_laptop/ - - - - - - - - - - NEC accuses hungry, thirsty worker of stealing $300m NEC this week warned that it will need to restate past financial results after a worker allegedly booked some $310m in faked transactions over three years. The reason for such abuse? NEC claims the worker wanted the money for "drinking and eating". You can't make this stuff up. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/23/nec_accounting_woes/ - - - - - - - - - - Four indicted in Nigerian e-mail scam Four people have been indicted and could face 30 years in prison for a variation on a popular scam in which e-mail senders claim they're trying to transfer money out of Nigeria, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,109819,00.html http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6053370.html - - - - - - - - - - Massive Botnet Stealing Banking Info One of the most sophisticated bot Trojans ever has been infecting machines for months, a security company revealed Wednesday, and has compromised an estimated one million PCs in an ongoing effort to pillage personal bank accounts. According to Reston, Va.-based iDefense, multiple variants of a Trojan dubbed "MetaFisher," a.k.a. "Spy-Agent," has been spreading for months under the proverbial radar. http://internetweek.cmp.com/news/183702013 - - - - - - - - - - Marketer hit with $900,000 spam fine An Internet marketer will pay a $900,000 fine, the largest ever on spam-related charges, in a consent decree announced today by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Jumpstart Technologies LLC, based in San Francisco, is permanently prohibited from unlawful practices related to the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act as part of the decree, entered in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,109836,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Telecoms company fined after Gay Times advert led callers to child porn An adult chat line service has been fined PS50,000 for playing explicit, under-age gay sex fantasies to readers of a gay magazine. 4D Telecom advertised in the magazine, Gay Times using the slogan: "Hard XXX Rated Sex Confessions". Callers to the premium rate number were then played messages described by ICSTIS, the premium phone service watchdog, as repulsive. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-899.html - - - - - - - - - - N.Y. Attorney General sues Gratis, alleges privacy breach New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is suing Web site operator Gratis Internet Inc. for allegedly violating consumer confidentiality agreements by selling the personal information of millions of people to e-mail marketers, according to a statement issued Thursday by Spitzer's office. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,109822,00.html http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/03/23/email.privacy.ap/index.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11978422/ - - - - - - - - - - Man gets 30 years in child porn case A federal judge in Mobile sentenced a Daphne man to 30 years in prison for possessing and receiving child pornography. Lonnie Ray Hodnett, 58, was sentenced to 360 months by U.S. District Judge Charles Butler in federal court Tuesday in downtown Mobile. Hodnett pleaded guilty in December to possessing and receiving child pornography. http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1143109388267830.xml - - - - - - - - - - Man sentenced in child porn case A Ballantine man will spend 2 1/2 years in federal prison for having a photograph of a child engaged in sexual activity. Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom on Wednesday departed upward six months from the guideline range in sentencing Forrest Scott Smart, 38, saying the material involved a young girl. The judge declined the prosecutor's request for a longer sentence. http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/03/23/news/state/78-childporn.txt - - - - - - - - - - Ex-Dracut man guilty of child-porn charges A 36-year-old former Dracut resident who already served more than a year in jail on child-pornography charges was convicted again yesterday and he now faces at least 15 years in federal prison. http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_3628094 - - - - - - - - - - P.V. man enters plea in child porn case A Pennsville man entered a guilty plea this week to second degree endangering the welfare of children just as his criminal trial was set to begin this week, according to the Salem County Prosecutor's Office. In Superior Court Judge William Forester's courtroom Tuesday, Richard R. Newton II, 43, admitted to using peer-to-peer file sharing software to offer images of child pornography to others on the Internet, authorities said. http://www.nj.com/news/sunbeam/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1143105664143350.xml - - - - - - - - - - Child porn suspects in court A Springfield man who is among at least 30 people charged last week in an alleged child pornography ring had some administrative control over an international Internet chat room that transmitted live shots of child molestation and traded thousands of pictures, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/81832.asp - - - - - - - - - - Ex-Pewaukee official accused of child porn Former alderman earlier charged with sex assault Ten counts of possession of child pornography were filed Wednesday against former Pewaukee Ald. Anthony C. Balistreri as a result of the latest search warrant served in the investigation of child sexual assault charges against him. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=410183 - - - - - - - - - - Lawyer is charged with child porn and fraud A Madison County lawyer had an affair with his then-16-year-old sister-in-law, then 32 years later tried to use sexually explicit photographs of the girl to leverage her sister out of her share of the divorce settlement, federal prosecutors alleged Wednesday. http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/local/crime_courts/14166107.htm - - - - - - - - - - Teacher held on 20 charges of child porn Deputies arrested a Windy Hill Middle School teacher Wednesday and charged him with 20 counts of possession of child pornography on his home computer, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/technology/orl-lchildsex2306mar23,0,2746891.story - - - - - - - - - - Ship search nets child porn Two crew members aboard a freighter docked in Delta, B.C., have been charged with possession of child pornography after a routine search of cabins and personal computers by Canada Border Services Agency officers. http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/03/23/1501532-sun.html - - - - - - - - - - Sparta attorney appears set for trial on child porn A Sparta attorney and local GOP leader arrested last year on child pornography charges has been rejected from the Pretrial Intervention program, and his case appears likely to go to trial. http://www.njherald.com/304210716215087.php - - - - - - - - - - Police: Teens Who Stole Camera Confess After Finding Child Porn Oklahoma City police are investigating a possible child pornography case that actually emanated from a couple of teens confessing to stealing a camera at a metro mall. Police said the teens admitted taking a video camera from a kiosk in Crossroads Mall when they discovered it had sex acts recorded on it. Authorities said those acts included graphic video of a girl about 9 years old with a man much older than her. http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/8191556/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - AG sting leads to child porn indictment A Kerrville veterinarian was indicted this week on one count each of possession of child pornography and online solicitation of a minor. Jonathan Ward Brooke was arrested on July 25 when investigators say he drove to Buda with the intention of meeting a person he believed to be an underage girl for sexual contact. The girl was an undercover investigator whom Brooke had engaged in conversation in an online chat room. http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/articles/2006/03/22/news/news3.txt - - - - - - - - - - NYC Sanitation Worker Accused of Cyber-Crimes A sanitation worker from New York City was arrested yesterday in an online sting executed by Nassau County District Attorneys Office. Charles Taranow, 45, was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted disseminating indecent material to minors, criminal solicitation, and attempted patronizing a prostitute, according to Nassau DA Kathleen Rice. An undercover sting executed by Operation Teensaver, an effort by Rice to combat cyber-crime, helped lead to the arrest. http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=162&show=article&a_id=7899 - - - - - - - - - - Sun Grid hit by network attack Sun Microsystems' Grid, a publicly available computing service, was hit by a denial-of-service network attack on its inaugural day, the company said Wednesday. To let people try out the Sun Grid, the company made a text-to-speech translation service publicly accessible for, for example, turning blog entries into podcasts. "It became the focus of a denial-of-service attack," Aisling MacRunnels, Sun's senior director of utility computing, said in an interview Wednesday. http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-6052968.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/23/sun_grid_hacked/ - - - - - - - - - - China breaks up illicit gaming and piracy networks China has shut down a number of online porn and piracy sites as part of its crackdown on internet smut and other illicit content. The clampdown has resulted in arrests in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Anhui and Hubei. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/24/china_net_piracy_crackdown/ - - - - - - - - - - Lack of Funding in Child Porn Battle Funding level to fight child porn hasnt grown in ten years. The recent bust of an international child pornography ring bolsters promises by the Justice Department to crack down on the exploitation of children. But federal funding for the effort is lacking despite an explosion of both domestic and international child pornography. Paul Bresson of the FBIs Innocent Images National Initiative can attest to the growth. http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0039921.cfm - - - - - - - - - - Exposed advertisers cut adware ties Three of the companies listed earlier this week as advertisers on the 180solutions adware network have cut their ties with the firm. Altrec, an online store selling outdoor clothing and equipment, told vnunet.com that it has " discontinued its experiment with 180solutions indefinitely". http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2152668/exposed-advertisers-cut-ties - - - - - - - - - - Sendmail flaw poses critical hacker risk Security researchers have unearthed a flaw in Sendmail, the popular email server package that's widely used by ISPs. A security bug involving improper handling of asynchronous signal data by Sendmail when receiving and processing mail might be used to corrupt stack memory. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/23/sendmail_security_bug/ - - - - - - - - - - Dangerous code on Net could be used to exploit IE hole Code that takes advantage of a security hole in Internet Explorer has been published on the Web and could be used by someone to unleash an e-mail virus that could put people's computers and data at risk, Microsoft and security experts said Thursday. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6053456.html - - - - - - - - - - Fake ID business booms in Los Angeles The Federal Trade Commission says identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country. The thieves often use phony Social Security numbers belonging to innocent citizens and do it with the greatest of ease. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11980592/ Informal survey shows lax ID checks for air travelers http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33681 - - - - - - - - - - O2 recalls 140,000 handsets over fire risk A battery fault may be responsible for an overheating problem that has affected at least three O2 handsets. Mobile operator O2 is recalling over 100,000 of its X1 mobile phones after customers reported that their handsets had melted while being charged. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/mobile/0,39020360,39259048,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - 'Firefox flaw wrecked my relationship' Sex, lies and browser bugs. Web browser bugs are routinely blamed for creating huge networks of compromised PCs and undermining the safety of ecommerce transactions. Now one woman says a "security bug" in Mozilla led to the break up of her engagement. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/23/firefox_bug_engagement_split_rumpus/ - - - - - - - - - - FBI CIO: You get what you pay for The FBI doesnt have enough money to pay for essential information technology services such as e-mail, its chief information officer said today. For example, the FBI receives $300 million a year to support 42,000 federal, state, local and contractor partners in law enforcement worldwide, said FBIs CIO Zalmai Azmi. That averages to about $7,100 per person. http://www.fcw.com/article92718-03-23-06-Web - - - - - - - - - - NAO report to critise NHS plans A leaked copy of a report on the NHS IT upgrade plans from the Government watchdog reveals concerns that the national programme will not meet its goals. A long-awaited report on the NHS by the National Audit Office (NAO) is expected to criticise the Government's plans for the modernisation of the health service and the progress made so far in implementing the PS6.2bn NHS IT programme. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/management/0,39020654,39259045,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Audio archives could become inaccessible, engineers warn The recording tape and records that contain much of America's audio heritage could become inaccessible in the next few decades, sound engineers warn. They are urging organizations responsible for maintaining audio archives to focus on better digitization techniques and training in an effort to preserve the sound, according to a study released this week that was requested by Congress. http://www.fcw.com/article92721-03-23-06-Web ************************************************************ Digital Investigation is the international journal of digital forensics and incident response. 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