October 28, 1999 Texas, Net Providers to Fight Child Porn Agreement Aims to Streamline Reporting, Investigation The Texas Attorney General's Office and Internet service providers in the state are teaming up to help catch child pornographers. In an unusual public-private partnership, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn and the Texas Internet Service Providers Association have developed guidelines that outline steps Internet service providers (ISPs) should take in referring reports of kiddie porn on their sites to the attorney general's office. http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/internetcrime/1999/10/26/porn1026_01.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - No narrowly defined technology report are we: Two Internet penny stock promoters found shot to death had ties to "shady" business dealings, which may ultimately have led to their execution-style killings, a prosecutor said. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/015291.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Blind Bros. charged with cybercrime The Badir brothers are blind from birth and grew up in an Arab village bypassed by the computer revolution -- not the typical hacker resume. http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/1018772l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Music Industry guns for Internet pirates The global music industry Thursday outlined plans for a coordinated attack on Internet piracy, taking action against hundreds of outlaw sites in more than 20 countries. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said its strategy was aimed at paving the way for artists and record companies to deliver music electronically and legally around the world. http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/1016341l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BSA cannot use seized documents COMPACT disc manufacturer SM Summit Holdings has won yet another round in its two-year legal battle with software-piracy watchdog Business Software Alliance (BSA). The company is suing BSA -- which represents Microsoft Corporation, Adobe Systems Inc and Autodesk Inc -- for defamation, on a press statement it released after conducting an "anti-piracy" raid at Summit's CD factory in 1997. http://straitstimes.asia1.com/cyb/cyb3_1028.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft hacker: It's like a drug The hacker who broke into Microsoft's computers and publicly bragged about it says it was personal problems -- not unrequited love -- that led him to attack the computer giant. "Some bad things have been happening in my life, and I just figured I'd go on the Internet and escape reality and see how much trouble I can get into," the hacker, who gave his age as "under 16," said Wednesday in an interview with MSNBC, hours after he vandalized four more government Web sites. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2383130,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Interview With NSA Defacer There have been two firsts in the world of Web site defacements in the last two days. First Flipz defaced defaced a Microsoft server for the first time in history. This flooded the Attrition Mirror with traffic -- more than nine gigs of it. Now someone who calls himself Fuqrag has defaced a National Security Agency Web site. http://www.aviary-mag.com/Interviews/Fuq/fuq.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Halloween Hacks With All Hallow's Eve upon us, it's time to eye the mischief that haunts our Net like a restless spirit. Website defacement is shaping up to be the cyberspace equivalent of sending streamers of toilet paper through the neighbor's tree branches. On Sunday, a shadowy figure known as "Flipz" TP-ed an obscure Microsoft host, generating Web-wide buzz. It seems it was the first hack on a Microsoft site and Flipz used the historic occasion to share the following pearl of wisdom: "flipz was here and f0bic, your seksi voice helped me through the night heh. Save the world. Kill Bill." http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/cybercrime/chaostheory/story/0,3700,2382763,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Proof of concept" virus not a danger -- yet A new, fairly benign virus is being described as a "proof of concept" virus by security vendors, as it is the first to infect Microsoft Project applications. P98M/Corner is the first macro virus to infect both Project and Word documents, and can travel between them, security vendors Data Fellows, Trend Micro, Network Associates, and others announced Tuesday. "It's interesting because it is the first virus to infect a Microsoft Project files," said Trend Micro spokesperson Susan Orbuch."We can't say that we are surprised to see it." http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?991026.encorner.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - White House opposes cybersquatting bill President Bill Clinton wants international regulations in place of national legislation to bar people from naming Internet sites with trademarks owned by famous companies, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said on Wednesday. The White House statement followed the House of Representatives' approval Tuesday of legislation to crack down on so-called cybersquatting. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2383443,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Easing Consumer Fears Over Privacy Pays Off - Study An extensive survey of consumer attitudes on Internet privacy suggests that ignoring the concerns of Web shoppers will cost companies money. In a report released today, Forrester Research said two thirds of online shoppers feel insecure about exchanging personal information over the Internet. What's more, Forrester analyst Christopher Kelley told Newsbytes, consumers with concerns are doing more than just complaining about online privacy issues: they're spending less money. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/99/138492.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bring in the Cyberpolice CYBERSPACE IS GETTING SCARY. Those sleazy porn sites. Viruses. Gaudy ads. Unstoppable spam e-mail. You click "okay" on an e-commerce item and hope that your money doesn't vanish into some Internet bandit's account in Lagos. If things get much worse, logging on to the Net may be as perilous as straying into a bad part of town after dark. http://www.forbes.com/forbes/99/1101/6411112a.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Is it time for Net cops? Last night, I dreamed that I was sitting in a front-row center seat at a Margaret Becker concert, when suddenly her music was disrupted by a popping noise. It was one of those sounds that invades your dreams from the real world. The noise eventually roused me from my sleep. I got out of bed and wandered around looking for the source of the racket. It sounded like it was coming from the front of the house, so I peeked out the front door to see what was happening. http://cnn.com:80/TECH/computing/9910/27/netcops.idg/index.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft Tells PC Makers: No More OS CDs Direct PC manufacturers will no longer be able to supply customers with their own CD version of the Windows operating system because of Microsoft Corp.'s piracy concerns. In an official document seen by PC Advisor, Microsoft has told its direct PC partners, manufacturers who sell over the phone and the Internet, that "our CD media was being unbundled and resold." Therefore, the company would be "discontinuing our manufacture of Microsoft-branded media for Windows products in the OEM direct channel." http://www.idgnews.net/intl/international.nsf/pages/002565AF0072E40100256818 003CE0D5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - World Wide Web Consortium Clears Use of Platform for Privacy Preferences The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Thursday determined the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) technology does not infringe a patent held by the Intermind Corp. P3P will allow Web sites to notify users of the site's privacy practices and will provide users with greater control over the use of their personal information on the Web. http://www.internetnews.com/wd-news/article/0,1087,10_227831,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Canada House OKs Privacy The Canadian government's privacy law passed its final vote in the House of Commons by a margin of 200-49 Wednesday night, but its continuing legislative saga is far from over. Bill C-6, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act -- previously known as Bill C-54 -- was stalled by a determined filibuster last June. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32120,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - High-tech workplaces eye privacy Workplace privacy is not a new issue, but it is becoming more relevant as organizations transform from physical to digital workplaces. The challenge for high-tech companies is to protect both employee privacy and business interests. Overly aggressive policies not only raise concerns about privacy rights, but can also affect workplace morale. http://www.globetechnology.com/archive/gam/News/19991028/TWSURV2.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Philosophy of Security Windows and Unix take diverging approaches to computer security. Can both be right? When discussing networks, people often want to know which is the most secure system. This is sometimes comes down to the fundamental question of the operating system. Is Windows NT a secure operating system? Is NT more secure than Unix? The answers to these questions depend a lot on your philosophy of computer security. http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/cybercrime/story/0,3700,2382021,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - INFOSEC by Dummies - Part I Mix some programming code, state-of-the-art hardware, network connections, nerds of all shapes and sizes, hackers, viruses, firewalls, application software, Internet access, World Wide Web sites, and a little oregano, and you will find yourself either at a Microsoft TechNet conference or the front-line of the information security (INFOSEC)battlefield. http://securityportal.com/direct.cgi?/topnews/infosec-dummies1.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - How to Erase A Browser's Web Trail Q. How do I get rid of my browser's history? A. Your Web browser is designed to make it easy to go to previously visited sites. As a result, your browsing leaves plenty of tracks. If you want to eliminate those tracks, I would first erase your cookies file. Find the "cookie.txt" file on your computer's hard drive and erase its contents. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/feed/a53027-1999oct28.htm