August 1, 2000 Microsoft starts Web fraud campaign Microsoft Corp. has launched a new global campaign against Internet consumer fraud involving software products, the company said Tuesday, taking legal action against 7,500 Web site postings that allegedly offer pirated or counterfeit software. The company, working with law enforcement agencies, said it is using a new tool to search Internet sites to identify illegal offerings and those behind them. So far, Microsoft has found allegedly illegal material on servers in 33 countries. Microsoft has requested that the owners of the servers take the illegal offerings off the Internet. Those that don't may face legal action, the company said. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/264667l.htm - - - - - - - - - - Task force to take on cyber-terrorists THE German government has created a top-secret unit of computer and hi-tech specialists to combat corporate cyber-terrorism in the new millennium. Germany is worried that the terrorist of the future will not have a gun in one hand and a grenade in the other, but a lethal knowledge of computers. The government does not want the huge concerns of the world's fourth largest world economy - Volkswagen, Siemens, Bosch and the like - to be crippled by viruses or other computer glitches unleashed by society's malcontents. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=303658 - - - - - - - - - - Dutch Secret Service accused of e-mail snooping Reports that intelligence agents have been intercepting e-mail traffic have added urgency to the debate about electronic snooping in the Netherlands, where a pending bill would broaden the government's power to monitor communications. The newspaper De Volkskrant said Monday that the Internal Security Service (Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst or BVD) had monitored e-mail messages between an unnamed Dutch software company and an Iranian customer. According to the report, BVD approached the company, which makes software for industrial processes, and warned it to stop dealing with an Iranian water-purification company because of its involvement in nuclear power projects. http://idg.net/ic_207304_1794_9-10000.html - - - - - - - - - - E-mail alert: 'Uncle Spam' wants you! Uncle Sam could become "Uncle Spam" if the government follows through with plans for creating an "official U.S. e-mail box" for every address in America, say industry executives briefed on the proposal. The ruckus began earlier this week, when the U.S. Postal Service disclosed that it was exploring the e-mail idea. The government would use the e-mail addresses to send driver's license renewal forms, tax documents and other materials that would normally be sent by snail mail. And Americans would visit two mailboxes every day -- the ones outside their homes and the ones inside their computers, said Deputy Postmaster General John M. Nolan. Uncle Spam strikes Not everyone's greeting the idea with open arms, however. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2610604,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Warnings about security holes abound at Def Con Unsuspecting attendees logging on to the wireless network at the Def Con hackers convention here last weekend immediately found themselves targets in the event's annual "capture the flag" hacking competition. One visitor found his machine pinged within 10 seconds and had several of his Windows utilities disabled within minutes - but that was all part of the fun. http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO47868,00.html Def Con reporter's notebook: Hackers -- naughty and nice "We apologize for the delay," said the Def Con press attache. "The CIA is caucusing in the men's room." "Well I'm so glad I left the tape recorder running in there," replied a British reporter calmly pouring scotch. "Would anyone like a drink?" As it turned out, several of the two dozen assembled members of the press said they'd like a drink, thank you, and maybe another one downstairs by the pool where hackers and feds reclined in punishing Las Vegas heat. http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO47897,00.html - - - - - - - - - - British angered over cell phone tracking Civil liberties advocates are outraged at the implications of the newly passed Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which could allow British law enforcement agencies to trace the movements of mobile phone users with a minimum of accountability. The new legislation will negate the need for a warrant issued by the Home Secretary to intercept and read electronic communications. When the Act becomes law on Oct. 5, the Home Secretary can be bypassed by requesting a warrant from a police superintendent. The superintendent will then have the power to order the use of positioning technology to locate an individual using his or her mobile phone as a tracking device. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2000/30/ns-17014.html - - - - - - - - - - Copyrights can be protected online - survey Almost three out of four film and television producers believe copyrights can be protected on the Internet despite concerns about piracy, a survey conducted by Red Herring and the Hollywood Reporter found. Copyright protection is a major issue for the entertainment industryas demonstrated by a landmark court battle by the recording industry against San Mateo, Calif.-based Napster Inc., which developed an online song-swap service. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/262986l.htm - - - - - - - - - - Online-payment service PayPal shifts policy in battle on fraud Sam Johnson isn’t yet a satisfied customer of PayPal. In early July, when he bought seven hard drives on the Yahoo! Inc. auction site, he paid $418 through PayPal, a system that transfers money from online-payment accounts directly to another person or to a company. SYSTEMS SUCH AS THESE have become popular for online auctions and other Web sites where people do business with each other instead of with vendors that are set up to accept credit cards. But the hard drives didn’t arrive, and then Mr. Johnson got more bad news: PayPal had a policy of not reimbursing victims of frauds or scams. http://www.msnbc.com/news/440155.asp - - - - - - - - - - Privacy group asks judge to release details of e-mail spy system A privacy group asked a federal judge Tuesday to order the release of details concerning the government's ``Carnivore'' e-mail surveillance system. The Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center accused the FBI of not moving fast enough to act on the group's Freedom of Information Act request for the information. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/035755.htm - - - - - - - - - - America Online, Others Sued For Blocking E-Mail A Rochester, N.Y., online marketing research firm told Washtech.com this morning it filed a lawsuit against Internet/online service giant America Online Inc. and other Internet service providers (ISPs), alleging that they all are blocking the research firm from communicating with its members. Harris Interactive Inc. said it is namely targeting AOL and Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp.'s HotMail for blocking Harris' e-mail from reaching registered participants who opt-in for online marketing research. Harris also is charging an antitrust complaint against Dulles, Va.-based AOL, which operates its own online market-research company called Digital Marketing Systems (DGS). http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/153025.html - - - - - - - - - - Shoppers nervous over online security Online shoppers in Britain are nervous about giving their credit card and personal details, a National Consumer Council survey showed Wednesday. ``Unless the total online shopping environment is made more secure, some consumers will never have the confidence to explore the opportunities,'' Council director Anna Bradley said. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/265972l.htm - - - - - - - - - - Vendors send personal information to marketing firm, despite policies Without knowing it, some Internet shoppers are forking over more than cash for their purchases. Several online retailers have been giving their customers' personal information to a marketing company. Privacy groups called the practice an ``unforgivable breach'' of confidentiality. A security and privacy firm that does risk assessments for Internet retailers says that four such sites have forwarded personally identifiable information to the marketing company, Coremetrics, despite the retailers' privacy policies. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/082234.htm - - - - - - - - - - Amex To Protect Australian Web Purchases American Express is hoping a new online guarantee system will encourage Web-shy Australians to make more Web purchases, and charge them to their Amex cards. The guarantee means card members won't be held responsible for any unauthorzsed charges made on their cards while shopping on the Internet, Amex says. It claims to be the first card issuer in Australia to offer this protection. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/153061.html - - - - - - - - - - Yahoo!, AT&T, Microsoft win cybersquatting cases U.N. arbitrators decided in favor of Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp., AT&T Corp. and Japan Tobacco Inc. in a series of rulings on ``cybersquatting'' disputes released Tuesday. The domain name campyahoo.com was ordered transferred to Yahoo!, which complained that the name was confusingly familiar to its own trademarks. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/074151.htm - - - - - - - - - - Wal-Mart Sucks Names Away From Domain Claim Jumper An arbitrator weighing a dispute over the rights to Internet domain names such as Wal-MartCanadaSucks.com and WalMartPuertoRicoSucks.com has determined that the addresses should belong to department store giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rather than the Canadian resident who argues such "protest" monikers are just fair comment in the form of a Web URL. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/153049.html - - - - - - - - - - Ruling due soon in Sex.com ownership dispute A decision is expected as early as this week in one of the Internet's most intriguing disputes, involving the ownership of the name Sex.com. ``This case has it all: bankruptcy fraud, pornography, forgery, offshore holdings, deep pockets, dirty tricks, depositions in foreign cities and a bitter dispute over rights to a multimillion-dollar domain name,'' said Ellen Rony, co-author of ``The Domain Name Handbook.'' http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/050191.htm - - - - - - - - - - Harvard sues Web startup company Harvard University has sued the Internet startup notHarvard.com for trademark violations, saying the online company that sued the university last week is unlawfully exploiting the lucrative Ivy League name for financial gain. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/264614l.htm - - - - - - - - - - Untended Australian Web Sites May Be Breaking The Law Australian companies leaving outdated sales and marketing material on their Web sites may get into trouble with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The consumer watchdog will be keeping an eye out for old or forgotten advertising or product information on Web sites, saying such material may attract serious legal consequences through the Trade Practises Act. "Some Internet advertisers may be tempted to keep outdated material on their Web sites. However, unless a Web site clearly identifies material as outdated or historic, consumers may be misled into thinking the material is current," said the ACCC's Chairman Allan Fels. "Such material can lead to severe consequences under the Trade Practices Act 1974." http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/153052.html - - - - - - - - - - Norton Patches Firewall Holes Symantec has quietly modified its Norton Personal Firewall and Norton Internet Security 2000 products to block advertising programs that are sometimes dubbed "spyware." The programs, called adbots, fetch banner ads over the Internet, but they also transmit encrypted data about the user back to the advertising companies. This function has earned them the "spyware" label among privacy and security advocates. http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,17880,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Old IDs Never Die; They Just Cause Trouble While many information technology managers lock down access through firewalls, virtual private networks and encryption, a few are tackling a more mundane threat: how to quickly grant and withdraw network access rights for their employees. The problem has existed for years but is becoming more urgent, some analysts said, because of rapidly changing job roles and high turnover. http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/frame/0,1213,NAV47_STO47755,00.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.