November 10, 1999 This is NOT funny: Computer security experts are warning of a dangerous new e-mail virus, one able to destroy information even when users don't fully open their messages. "Bubbleboy" -- nicknamed after an episode of the TV show "Seinfeld" -- is the first known e-mail virus that doesn't even need to be fully opened to be activated. Just highlighting the e-mail's subject line in Microsoft Outlook Express activates its hidden code. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/021748.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,1018067,00.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/333265.asp - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Four men allegedly sent 50 million e-mails to Internet users nationwide urging them to apply for bogus job opportunities by mailing the group money, investigators said. Three of the men were arrested in Southern California Tuesday and charged with conspiracy and wire fraud, an official said. The fourth suspected is expected to surrender today. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/023900.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Internet Industry Debates Wiretapping The programmers and engineers who design and maintain the Internet are heading for a showdown with the FBI over whether the global computer network should be made wiretap-friendly. The issue comes up tonight in meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Washington. The group has been debating just how far it should go to help law enforcement officials conduct wiretaps ­ especially now that some telephone traffic is moving onto the Internet. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/A43441-1999Nov9.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cyber-Champ Awards Continuing its tradition of handing out trophies to political figures who play active roles in defending technology industry interests in the United States and abroad, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) today gave "Cyber-Champion" awards to Commerce Secretary William Daley and US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky. Daley and Barshefsky were chosen for the oft-bestowed honor because of their respective efforts to implement and promote - Daley in the Untied States and Barshefsky in other countries - President Clinton's executive order on computer privacy, according to the BSA. http://www.currents.net/newstoday/99/11/10/news14.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Attacking cybersquatters: In a major victory for the Motion Picture Association and other industry groups that have been working to protect trademarks online, the House Tuesday passed a bill that would outlaw cybersquatting, the practice of speculating in Internet addresses, known as domain names. (New York Times article; free registration required) http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/cyber/articles/10domain.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hotmail uses controversial filter to fight spam A controversial antispam tool has acquired legitimacy with the addition of a new subscriber: Hotmail, the 800-pound gorilla of Web-based email. Microsoft's free Hotmail service last week started filtering all email coming from servers listed on the Mail Abuse Prevention System's (MAPS) Realtime Blackhole List (RBL). The list is composed of email servers known to be used by senders of unsolicited commercial email--or "spammers." http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1433577.html?tag=st - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hotmail: Now you see it, now you don't Hotmail message headers are playing a game of hide-and-seek with some users, causing alarm but apparently posing no threat to messages. Microsoft's Hotmail, a free, Web-based email service, said that the problem was only a matter of appearances, and that no mail had been lost. "We discovered an issue that caused some email header information to appear unavailable," said Hotmail product manager Deanna Meyer. "This has already been resolved, and we are currently updating all Hotmail servers." http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1433990.html?tag=st - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DVD Hackers Headed to Court? If there's one thing entertainment industry lawyers don't like, it's someone copying CDs or DVDs. But what they really, truly detest are the upstart hackers who discovered how to copy DVD films -- and had the temerity to distribute a program that does just that. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32449,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OMB mulls adding information security requirements to budget regs The Office of Management and Budget is looking at ways to better incorporate security into agencies' funding requests for information technology systems, including revising regulations governing how agencies formulate their budgets. At most agencies, security is added to information systems and architectures long after the technology is in place. That leaves agencies with vulnerabilities and management issues that cannot be solved unless security is built into the systems, said Glenn Schlarman, policy analyst at OMB's Office of Information Policy and Technology, speaking Tuesday in Falls Church, Va., at a conference sponsored by the General Services Administration's Office of Information Security. http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1999/1108/web-omb-11-10-99.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Privacy advocates: Advertisers' proposal flawed A group of Internet advertising companies yesterday announced an initiative designed to develop a framework for self-regulation of their industry, but privacy advocates immediately attacked it as flawed. http://www.networkworld.com/news/1999/1109private.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - EPIC Blasts Yahoo for Identifying Posters If you post a remark about a company on a Yahoo message board, watch out: The company might force Yahoo to identify you. Then it might sue you. This scenario is being played out more often than most Internet users realize. Companies enraged by criticism are filing lawsuits against "John Doe" and then serving the service provider with a subpoena for the identity of anonymous posters. http://www.thestandard.net/articles/display/0,1449,7564,00.html?home.tf - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Intrusion Detection, Take Two Our second look at intrusion-detection systems shows that a combination of network-based and host-based technologies is a promising strategy. But is it ready to safeguard your network? http://www.networkcomputing.com/1023/1023f1.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ***EDITORS NOTE - While not crime related, thought this of value to our folks in the public safety arena. *** Emergency services still lag in Y2K preparations Despite major progress by the federal government, many of the nation's 911 emergency call centers as well as other businesses still are not ready for the year 2000. Surveys of more than 2,700 of the nation's emergency call centers--most of which are operated by local governments--found that only 55 percent were Y2K compliant as of October 1, according to John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1009-200-1435073.html?tag=st