October 13, 1999 Valley ex-exec pleads innocent Naughton appears in U.S. court in L.A. Patrick Naughton, the former Infoseek Corp. executive arrested last month after he allegedly arranged a sexual rendezvous with an FBI agent posing as a 13-year-old girl, appeared in federal court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to three felony charges. http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/front/docs/naughton13.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2352630,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ZDNN/Harris Quickpoll: Should the FBI nab cyber-sickos? Former Infoseek exec Patrick Naughton was recently arrested for trying to arrange sex over the Internet with a 13 year-old girl who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. What are your thoughts on undercover FBI agents in chat rooms? http://vr.harrispollonline.com/voting/default.asp?accessid=30 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Suspect in Child Porn Ring Kills Self A man charged in an alleged tri-county child pornography ring fatally shot himself in the head with a deer rifle Sunday, days after a federal grand jury indicted four suspects in the case, authorities said. The wife of Ronald Dean Curts of Tulsa, whose polio confined him to a wheelchair, found the 53-year-old man dead in their Oswego Avenue home shortly after 3 p.m., police said. http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/1999/10/12/childporn1012_01.html?s=emil - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - L.A. Deputy Busted in Internet Sex Sting A Los Angeles sheriff's deputy using the screen name "Lawdude26" tried to meet and seduce a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet, authorities allege. But when he tried to meet the girl, he found out she was actually an undercover FBI agent, and now the deputy is charged in federal court with using the Internet to persuade and entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/1999/10/12/deputy1012_01.html?s=emil - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Is it a secret if nobody says Shhh... An engineer at a Chinese government-run aircraft maker has been imprisoned for posting information about one of China's newest fighter planes on the Internet, a human rights group said today. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/010299.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft developing patch for IE 5.0 hole Microsoft Corp. this week said a security hole in its Internet Explorer 5.0 browser could enable Web site operators to read files on visiting users' PCs. According to a security alert issued by Microsoft, Web site operators can read files only if they already know the name of the file and the folder in which it resides. The security hole does not allow malicious operators to list the contents of folders; create, modify or delete files; or have any administrative control over others' PCs. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,1017637,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AOL hit by password-stealing program Another password-stealing scheme has come to light on America Online. But unlike such typical schemes where an official-looking e-mailer asks for a user's password, this one comes in the form of a message with an attached JPEG. At least that's what users are led to believe. In reality, the JPEG is a disguised password-stealing program that is activated when a user clicks on the image. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/filters/bursts/0,3422,2353198,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cyberterrror a waste of time (Commentary) How do you keep a concept like our perennially impending "Electronic Pearl Harbor" fresh and exciting a decade after its introduction? By tying it in to Y2K, of course. FBI cybercop Michael Vatis recently warned that terrorists posing as Y2K programmers may be planting trapdoors and logic bombs in corporate software -- a theory that's been swimming around the media pool for a few months now. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2353034,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - These Web sites know your past Brian Dunham has a hot Internet business idea, but he worries that someone will steal it. So last month, the 31-year-old San Franciscan blocked potential competitors from finding his brand-new Web site. When the rest of the world clicks on eframes.com, it sees a Web business that frames and ships digital photographs overnight. But four firms that Mr. Dunham views as likely rivals get only a dummy site sporting this message: "Coming in time for Christmas!" Known to insiders as Web-access blocking, this maneuver is made possible by the growing ability of computer programs to identify Internet users. In a little-known trick -- technically called "domain-name identification" -- Web sites can secretly see where visitors are coming from the moment they click on. The site can then choose to let them in or not. Or it can put up a substitute site. Or it can send them somewhere else altogether. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2352917,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Customs Service Launches Intellectual Property Center The US Customs Service today opened a multi-jurisdictional center aimed at combating what Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly called an explosion of software piracy in the United States and abroad. The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center will coordinate the efforts of 15 federal agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting software piracy offenses. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/99/137742.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Government said to have foiled US "espionage attempt via computers" BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 10/13/99; Source: 'Al-Sharq al-Awsat' web site, London, in Arabic, 10/11/99 Text of report by London-based newspaper 'Al-Sharq al-Awsat' web site on 11th October Iraqi official sources have told 'Al-Sharq al-Awsat'that government scientific and security organs in Baghdad have succeeded in foiling a big US espionage attempt via computers shipped by contracting companies to Iraq. The sources said: The first shipment of 450 computers, which arrived in Iraq through these companies, were to have been installed in various government ministries. It appears, however, that a report, which was published in the local press some months ago, raised suspicions about a certain government department as the main beneficiary from the deal. The Defence Ministry's computer department had also planned to purchase 180 of these most sophisticated personal computers through local importers. The official sources added: Baghdad has now succeeded in setting up a scientific team with special equipment for checking computers that are ordered by government establishments. A special department in the Iraqi Interior Ministry also carries out regular checks on all systems and units. Moreover, a special team consisting of experts from this department, as well as the National Computer Centre and the Defence Ministry's computer department, has completed its work on the adoption of a special system for discovering any attempt to hack into computers in government departments, some of which have already begun linking their equipment to their head offices through a local area network. The Iraqi official sources believe that "the results of this department's work in protecting national security will lead to its enhancement by increasing its personnel, especially in the field of development and research." An Iraqi study has recommended producing "counter-offensive programmes to the US war against Iraq." Another study published in an Iraqi periodical - which is unprecedented in a country like Iraq - reveals that "an attempt to spy on Iraq through special chips that were built into equipment, including military ones, which Iraq bought from west European countries, was foiled" . Iraqi President Saddam Husayn had pledged earlier to support the computer software industry to allow the establishment of a special base for this industry.