NewsBits for April 20, 2006 ************************************************************ Oregon man fined 84K under Washington anti-spyware law An Oregon man was fined $84,000 for fraudulently marketing anti-spyware software on the internet. Zhijan Chen, of Portland, was fined after a five-month investigation by Washington State's attorney general's Consumer Protection High-Tech Unit found Chen promoted Secure Computer's Spyware Cleaner to PC users across the U.S. in messages that faked system warnings. Chen was the first person to be prosecuted under the state's 2005 Computer Spyware Act. http://www.scmagazine.com/uk/news/article/554549/oregon+man+fined+84k+washington+anti-spyware+law/ - - - - - - - - - - Convict pleads guilty in 'Nigerian letter' scam A convict accused of bilking a woman of $454,000 (a!370,550) through a get-rich- quick scheme known as a "Nigerian Letter" has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, federal prosecutors said. http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/51/04-19-2006/280d00085aba0754.html - - - - - - - - - - Man at center of child porn bust to serve 12 months Rodney Cheely of Waverly was sentenced to 12 months in jail on Friday in Sussex Circuit Court in connection with what officials call the largest child pornography bust in the history of the state. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16503127 - - - - - - - - - - Clinton man pleads guilty to child porn charges A 38-year-old Clinton man pleaded guilty in federal court this morning to possession of child pornography, federal prosecutors said. As part of a plea agreement, Horace Brown admitted to uploading child pornography to a Web site operated by police as part of a multi-state investigation. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-plea0419,0,7064012.story - - - - - - - - - - Ex-student found guilty in child porn case District Court Judge Elliot Zide sentenced a former FSC student to three years of supervised probation after police found at least one child pornography picture on his laptop. Zide found Jonathan Kinney, 25, guilty on one count of possession of child pornography. http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_3726840 - - - - - - - - - - Man pleads guilty to bestiality, child porn charges Bestiality was "relatively common" overseas, a court was told today before a man pleaded guilty to possessing child and animal pornography featuring dogs, cows and horses. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10378227 - - - - - - - - - - Child porn boyfriend spared jail A man whose partner discovered his stash of child pornography has been spared a prison sentence. Daniel Beckett, 24, had been collecting pictures of boys and girls as young as six being abused by adults. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4924568.stm - - - - - - - - - - Jail opposed in kid porn case Jail time would "crush" a 50-year-old convicted child porn collector, his lawyer argued at a sentencing hearing yesterday. Former Agincourt Boy Scout leader Thomas McKnight pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography after Toronto Police caught him trading images on the Internet. http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/04/20/1542050-sun.html - - - - - - - - - - Theodore man charged with possessing child porn A Theodore man was arrested Tuesday and charged with possessing child pornography, according to police. Richard Lynn Meriwether, 28, was released from the Mobile County Metro Jail on a $3,000 bond, the jail log showed. http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/114552452834440.xml - - - - - - - - - - Libray user faces porn charge The action of a keen library user led to child porn charges after a man was spotted viewing explicit images on a public computer, police say. Durham police arrested a 41-year- old man after a complaint from Brooklin library user in January. http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/04/20/1542051-sun.html - - - - - - - - - - 40 Russian extremist sites hosted on the Internet -- official There are about 40 Russian-language websites with terrorist and extremist content on the Internet, a senior law enforcement official said Wednesday. "A quarter of these have been registered through Russian service providers," Boris Miroshnikov, head of the Interior Ministry department for high- tech crime, told an international conference on cybercrime and cyberterrorism. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060419/46604607.html Russia tries to unite world against cyber-crime The Russian interior minister has called for the world to take a united stand against online criminals. Rashid Nurgaliyev told a Moscow press conference for the International Anti-Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism Forum that the danger from online attacks is now as great as the threat from major weaponry. http://www.computing.co.uk/vnunet/news/2154412/russia-tries-unite-world - - - - - - - - - - Bill Would Force Technicians to Report Child Porn A proposal to require computer technicians to report child porn found on the computers they work on has been sent to a summer study group by the House Judiciary Committee. The bill by Franklin Republican Glen Casada will make it a misdemeanor if paid computer technicians do not report child porn. http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/18709.asp - - - - - - - - - - N.Y. county requires security for wireless business networks Westchester County on Thursday enacted a law that is designed to limit identity theft by forcing local businesses to install basic security measures for any wireless network that stores customers' credit card numbers or other financial information. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/14390363.htm - - - - - - - - - - China claims progress in fighting software piracy Chinese officials said Wednesday they are making progress in stamping out rampant software piracy as President Hu Jintao started a U.S. tour with a visit to Microsoft Corp. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/14378893.htm - - - - - - - - - - China heading for top spam spot The US is still the top spam-relaying country, but its share of the global bane continues to drop, security vendor Sophos has reported in its latest statistics. http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=5836 Microsoft Launches New Antispam Portal http://www.it-observer.com/news/6140/microsoft_launches_new_antispam_portal/ - - - - - - - - - - Exercise prepares academy students for cyber warfare In an obscure office park midway between Baltimore and Washington, about 50 men and women use laptop computers to break into networks at the nation's military service academies. When one of them is successful at penetrating a networked computer, they get up and ring a bell. "We hit a remote desktop on a workstation," one hacker proclaims. Everybody in the room breaks into applause, like the whole issue of national security is just a game -- and it is. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123019273 Midshipmen Battle Invisible Enemy in Cyber Defense Exercise http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=23208 - - - - - - - - - - Cisco, Apple Patch Security Glitches Cisco Systems and Apple Computer each released new security patches meant to plug vulnerabilities discovered in their respective products. The networking giant issued patches for several types of software, while industry watchdogs identified a separate issue in a discontinued model of its Linksys brand routers. For its part, Apple detailed an issue related to a Java-oriented element of its software update services. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1951845,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Firefox sorts out security flaws Computer users are being urged to update the Firefox web browser to close serious security holes in it. Some of the security lapses in Mozilla software, which Firefox is based on, could allow malicious hackers to hijack computers. http://www.it-observer.com/news/6139/firefox_sorts_out_security_flaws/ - - - - - - - - - - Lax approach to mobile security Street-wise? When you're out in public places, there are certain things to do for reasons of personal safety and security, especially in unfamiliar locations. Look before crossing the road. Keep your money and credit cards hidden from view. Destroy credit card chits with copies of signatures to keep them out of the wrong hands. Avoid the large gang of drunken tearaways at midnight, and so on. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/20/poor_mobile_security/ - - - - - - - - - - Is E-Mail Authentication Back on the Radar? Opinion: Standards bodies basically whiffed on the matter, but private industry seems to have taken the ball and is running fast. Just when I'm done dismissing the potential for e-mail authentication to become an effective standard, evidence is presented to the contrary. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1951740,00.asp E-mail authentication gaining steam http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11388 Can email ID beat the spammers? http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39158203,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Data Loss Moves From PC To Suit Pockets Research carried out by Ontrack Data Recovery, the worldi? 1/2 s leading data recovery provider, shows that 27 percent have lost valuable data from their USB stick. The research, conducted among 400 professionals worldwide, also revealed that 65 percent of professionals own at least one USB-stick. http://www.it-observer.com/news/6138/data_loss_moves_pc_suit_pockets/ - - - - - - - - - - Unpatched and Doing Fine? It's been a year since the Honeynet project published the results of their study, which concluded that Linux systems can last much longer than Windows systems unpatched on the Internet. http://www.it-observer.com/news/6141/security_unpatched_doing_fine/ - - - - - - - - - - Improve Privileged User Accounts Management One of the biggest issues facing organisations is the elimination of bad practices related to the use and abuse of privileged accounts. Organisations frequently suffer from unrealistic policies that are being bypassed, usually because of a lack of resources, or having no policies with the result that there is no control. http://www.it-observer.com/articles/1118/improve_privileged_user_accounts_management/ - - - - - - - - - - Stop the bots Knock 'em off, but do it the right way I found the opening scene to the 1991 movie sequel, Terminator 2, to be one of the most powerful SciFi film openings ever. There's a massive firestorm, chunky metal warriors waging war against humans, and then the camera zooms into a metal robot foot crushing a human skull. Iti? 1/2 s very graphic. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/20/war_against_botnets/ - - - - - - - - - - Tech consumer guide After more than five years of writing about the numerous pitfalls that plague technology consumers, one can't help but pick up some pointers. So here's my compendium of tips to help you avoid persistent tech problems and maybe even save a few bucks, too. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,110696,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Immigration enforcers want to mine databases The Homeland Security Department is seeking authority from Congress to mine databases containing Social Security numbers in order to identify illegal immigrants and the employers who knowingly hire them, according to senior department officials. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33884&sid=28 - - - - - - - - - - DHS, HHS make secret pact to share airline passenger info The departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security have a secret agreement to exchange airline passenger information as part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plan to help combat pandemic flu, the Air Transport Association (ATA) said in a filing with the CDC. http://www.fcw.com/article94142-04-20-06-Web *********************************************************** 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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