July 27, 2000 Napster must stop music A federal judge Wednesday ordered Napster Inc., the leading online music-swapping service, to stop its users from trading songs copyrighted by the major labels and selected music publishers, handing a major victory to the record industry and potentially draining the fuel that has powered Napster's stunning ascent. http://www.sjmercury.com/svtech/news/indepth/docs/napstr072700.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2608170,00.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50239-2000Jul26.html http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/07/27/napster.appeal/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/438526.asp Napster verdict could sink UK pirates http://www.vnunet.com/News/1107586 - - - - - - - - - - - Computer virus hits BYU campus A virus, similar to the Loveletter virus that wreaked havoc early this year, hit campus Tuesday, July 25. The virus, called VBS Stages, appears as a forwarded joke through e-mail, said Jim Sands, student liaison for the office of information technology. The virus entered the campus system through Microsoft Outlook, Sands said. Stages can also be spread through several other e-mail providers, according to the virus profile on McAfee.com. Sands said Outlook is the widest used program being affected by Stages. http://newsnet.byu.edu/show_story.cfm?number=10443&year=current - - - - - - - - - - - Reno describes FBI Internet-wiretap system review Attorney General Janet Reno described Thursday a two-step process to review a new FBI Internet-wiretap system called Carnivore that has raised privacy concerns. With lawmakers and privacy advocates concerned the system allows for widespread surveillance of e-mails, Reno said the first step will be for a group of academic experts to conduct a detailed review of the computer program's source code. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/055425.htm http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2362943.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/438436.asp House asks Reno to suspend Carnivore http://www.msnbc.com/msn/438436.asp - - - - - - - - - - - Internet open to organized attack The Internet's reliance on a few key nodes makes it especially vulnerable to organized attacks by hackers and terrorists, according to a new study on the structure of the worldwide network. Like the airline hub system that falls apart when weather shuts down airports in Chicago or Dallas, the Internet could collapse if its major nodes were targeted in a malicious attack, the researchers said. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/245468l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - International panel testifies on cyber attacks An international panel of computer security officials told a U.S. congressional committee Wednesday that a quicker response to cyber attacks is needed both between countries and between government and private industry. Law enforcement officials from the Philippines, Israel, Germany and Sweden provided the committee with details on the international scope and challenges of coordinating the sharing of information when a cyber attack occurs. http://idg.net/ic_205203_1794_9-10000.html http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0724/web-cyber-07-27-00.asp - - - - - - - - - - - Know When to Hack 'Em Find out what really goes down at the year's most-hyped hacking convention, Def Con 8.0, in Las Vegas. Def Con 2000: Meet the Fed http://www.zdtv.com/cybercrime/hackingandsecurity/story/0,9955,1153,00.html Def Con: Hacking and the Law http://www.zdtv.com/cybercrime/hackingandsecurity/story/0,9955,1354,00.html Def Con: Gregory White http://www.zdtv.com/cybercrime/hackingandsecurity/story/0,9955,1353,00.html Def Con: Fighting Robots Better than BattleBots? http://www.zdtv.com/cybercrime/hackingandsecurity/story/0,9955,1355,00.html Def Con: Games Hackers Play http://www.zdtv.com/cybercrime/hackingandsecurity/story/0,9955,1356,00.html Def Con: Citizen Hacker http://www.zdtv.com/cybercrime/hackingandsecurity/story/0,9955,1362,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - House panel passes bill to protect agency computers The House Science Committee approved bipartisan legislation Wednesday to help federal agencies better protect their electronic information systems. The bill, H.R. 2413, approved by voice vote, would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology to promote the use of commercially available encryption products in order to reduce the costs and increase the availability of data protection technologies for federal agencies. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0700/072700td.htm - - - - - - - - - - - EC Adopts Data Privacy Plan Despite Concerns The European Commission today announced that it has formally settled on the so-called Safe Harbor data protection arrangement that allows US companies to engage in e-commerce data transfers with companies and individuals in the European Union (EU), despite European Parliament concerns about the effectiveness of the arrangement. The Safe Harbor will become effective in 90 days. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/152834.html - - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft wins cybersquatting case U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. will be allowed to evict the holder of the Internet address microsof.com, the U.N.'s anti-''cybersquatting'' board said on Thursday, its second victory in such a case. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/069100.htm - - - - - - - - - - - USOC wins cyber dispute over name A U.N. arbitrator has awarded the U.S. Olympic Committee rights to two Internet sites whose names suggested they were selling Olympic products. Arbitrator Richard G. Lyon of the World Intellectual Property Organization ruled that Tri B-U-N Eco. Project of Seattle had no right to the names USAOlympicOnlineStore.com and OlympicOnlineStore.com. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/248172l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - Pop star Sting stung in cyberspace British pop star Sting has lost a case at an international panel to evict the holder of the Internet address sting.com, becoming the first celebrity to suffer such a defeat, U.N. arbitrators said Thursday. The British singer filed the case in June at the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) against American Michael Urvan of Marietta, Georgia, who had been the first to register the address as an Internet domain. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/247328l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - Web Porn Addiction on the Rise in Ireland Ireland has embraced the information age with vigor but its population is increasingly falling victim to its darker side -- addiction to Internet pornography, a leading counseling agency warned Thursday. Eoin Stephens, vice chairman of the Irish Association for Counseling and Therapy, said more and more people with sex addiction problems were seeking help. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/247612l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - Gartner Advises U.S. House of Representatives on Computer Security Threats John Pescatore, vice president and research director of network security, Gartner Group, Inc. this morning advised the U.S. Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology to learn from private industry's success in e-business. He also urged collaboration among government agencies to step up Internet security measures. http://gartner11.gartnerweb.com/public/static/aboutgg/pressrel/pr20000726a.html - - - - - - - - - - - Privacy Sleuthing Goes Pro Software engineer Richard Smith has made a hobby of catching Internet software as it harvests user data without the user --- or sometimes the software maker -- knowing it. On Wednesday he took that hobby to a new level as he officially became the chief technical officer for the Privacy Foundation, a Denver based group that is formalizing Smith's activities into an official research group. http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,37812,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - Security education in crisis The information technology industry has become saturated with 20-something whiz kids who lack adequate training, education and professional discipline, creating a significant knowledge deficit when it comes to information security, a panel of top educators warned. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0724/web-secrity-07-27-00.asp - - - - - - - - - - - Silence the best security policy Should security holes be hushed up? Long controversial, the policy of disclosing software vulnerabilities to the public was subject to open attack in a Wednesday keynote at the Black Hat Security Conference. Marcus Ranum, chief technology officer for intrusion detection software maker Network Flight Recorder Inc., used hard language to say that security can't be improved unless "gray hat" hackers stop disclosing security holes to the public and stop creating tools for so-called "script kiddies" to exploit the holes. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2608077,00.html - - - - - - - - - - - Digital Signatures and Stolen Automobiles I can repudiate my apparent handwritten signature with a simple affidavit. A qualified document examiner then determines if I’m telling the truth. Recently, here in Texas, an attorney’s ex-secretary sent a letter to the State Bar, with her former boss’ forged signature, resigning his law license. Yet, with expert testimony about the forgery, he got his license back. Would he be so fortunate if his signature had been digital? http://www.securityportal.com/topnews/cars20000727.html *********************************************************** The source material may be copyrighted and all rights are retained by the original author/publisher. The information is provided to you for non-profit research and educational purposes. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however copies may not be sold, and NewsBits (www.newsbits.net) should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright 2000, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.