November 5, 1999 Dangerous Doings In Cyberspace In novelist William Gibson's pioneering "Neuromancer" cyberspace trilogy, corporations had a formidable arsenal to use against computer hackers. An attack could be detected immediately, with painful and sometimes deadly neurological feedback zapped at the intruder through his computer. Military computer systems in Gibson's world were so well protected that any digital attack would amount to a suicide run. (Free LA Times Registration Required) http://www.latimes.com/bin/login?Tag=/&URI=/archives/doc/rArchive/temp/temp.4925648 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Congress Reaches Possible E-Signature Detente House Democrats are applauding a Senate breakthrough on digital signatures legislation that Sens. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., reached last night. Republicans in the House Commerce Committee, who have been pushing their own recently failed version of digital signatures legislation, have no comment yet on the Abraham-Leahy compromise, but said they will continue to push for a re-negotiated bill of their own. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/99/138985.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Filters don't block booze, tobacco sites A new study released Thursday by the Center for Media Education finds that software filters designed to prevent the viewing of content on the Internet, particularly by children, do not do a very good job of protecting children from the marketing of alcohol and tobacco on the Web. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/nb/nb3.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Security Chip To Foil Thieves If dastardly data thieves manage to break into your IBM PC300 PL commercial PC, there's something very wrong. The new PCs, proudly unveiled by IBM Australia on Wednesday, come with more security gizmos than Fort Knox. For a start there's a special "security chip" embedded on the motherboard - an industry first, says IBM. It stores and encrypts digital signatures and certificates; signs each e-mail with a secure digital signature; and prevents unauthorized access to confidential data. http://www.computercurrents.com/newstoday/99/11/05/news14.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Citigroup boosts computers to nab launderers Citigroup Inc. has upgraded computer systems at its private bank to nab potential money launderers after a scandal over its role in helping the brother of a former Mexican president funnel alleged drug money through its accounts, sources say. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/1051153l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ISP Network Hacked The Internet service provider (ISP) network of Australia's second largest telecommunications provider Cable & Wireless Optus Ltd suffered a major security breach on Wednesday, with customer account details posted on the Internet. The attack occurred at 4.30am Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT), with user names and passwords of OptusNet and Microplex ISP customers posted on a Usenet news group. Cable & Wireless Optus said that no customer credit card details were made available. http://www.computercurrents.com/newstoday/99/11/05/news7.html http://www.newswire.com.au/9911/breach.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Back Orifice author reveals new Trojan technique The author of Back Orifice and a leading hacker at Cult of the Dead Cow has revealed plans to develop an ingenious new Trojan technique that has even got anti-virus experts impressed. "I have been working on turning any piece of commercial software that provides remote access to a computer into an executable," discloses Sir Dystic, one of the hacker group's more prominent members. "It wouldn't be very difficult to configure it so that it would work behind the scenes and then how would anti-virus software that scans for things like Back Orifice be able to detect it?" http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1999/44/ns-11255.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New-wave spies Electronic eavesdropping is becoming mere child's play SOFTWARE that allows a computer to receive radio signals could make spying on other computers all too simple, according to two scientists at the University of Cambridge. Such are the dangers that they are patenting countermeasures that computer manufacturers can take to foil any electronic eavesdroppers. http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991106/newsstory6.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Conducting Risk Analysis to Evaluate Enterprise Security In the constant prioritizing and evaluation of business resources for management selection within company objectives, risk management provides a tool for managers to determine cost-effective measures for protecting company assets - protection for reasonable cost. http://securityportal.com/direct.cgi?/topnews/conduct-risk.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - INFOSEC by Dummies - Part IV Ever think about contingency planning and disaster recovery? Can your business survive before shutdown for 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days? Will your customers wait? Obviously, natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, or a fire can cause untold damage to your computer systems. Additionally, attacks, either from insiders or outside hackers, or from "accidents" can cause further damage or disruption. Spilled coffee or soda can ruin your computer's day. http://securityportal.com/direct.cgi?/topnews/infosec-dummies4.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fight against piracy stepped up With more raids and arrests carried out this year, piracy of CD-ROMs, VCDs and CDs is under control here. IN THE first nine months of this year, more than 1.1 million pirated CD-ROMs, video compact discs and compact discs were seized in over 1,800 raids. There were 1.48 million items seized in 507 raids in the same period last year. Over that period this year, more than 330 people were arrested -- almost triple the 125 arrests in 1998. http://straitstimes.asia1.com/cyb/cyb2_1105.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DSL will threaten telcos, driven by porn - Ovum £40 a month broadband access to porn is predicted to be in huge demand by 2002 The emergence of DSL technology , driven in the consumer arena by a lust for porn, will have a "drastic effect" on the revenues and tariffs of telcos and service providers according to Tim Johnson, the founder of research firm Ovum. As DSL becomes mainstream, businesses and individuals will be presented with an alternative way of paying for high bandwidth and continuous Internet access, forcing telcos and service providers to rethink tariffs, according to Johnson. Businesses that previously paid up to £1,500 per month for high bandwidth will be able to access DSL for around £150 and individual users will have "always on" Internet for a fixed monthly fee. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1999/43/ns-11213.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Finjan to unleash proactive security software Finjan will release a new version of its PC security software next week that will provide proactive protection against Trojan horse attacks and invasions of privacy. The company's new so-called "first-strike" technology is named SurfinShield, said Finjan's President and CEO Bill Lyons in an interview on Thursday. The program protects users against malicious code in executable files or on the Internet through applications such as Java and ActiveX, as well as against code sent via instant messaging programs, Lyons said. http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?99115.enfinjan.htm