August 30, 2000 *** EDITOR'S NOTE *** I apologize for not getting the past two week's NewsBits out in a timely manner. My work load has been brisk and I was preparing for a month of travel, which started yesterday. NewsBits may be late or I may miss a few days during the next several weeks. I'm currently in Washington DC on an investigation with the Secret Service until Friday. I leave for the UK on Friday to conduct follow-up on two cases in the UK, one in France and one in Spain. When I leave Europe, I'll be headed to the ASIS Conference in Orlando, FL (if anyone is attending and would like to meet up, please send me a private message). After Orlando, I'll be in Chicago for a a week attending a work related meeting. So, I ask your indulgence if NewsBits is a bit delayed. I appreciate your understanding and continued support of NewsBits. Stay safe! RJL **************************************************************** Palm devices suffer little damage in virus-like attack A virus-like program has infected some Palm devices, marking the first time the popular handheld computers have been hit by malicious software and raising the specter of future incidents. ''This is the beginning of the handheld virus era,'' says David Perry of computer security firm Trend Micro. The program affected a tiny number of Palm users, did little damage and has virtually been wiped out. Still, experts say, it shows that personal digital assistants (PDAs) are vulnerable to viruses and will likely encourage copycats. Technically, the destructive software is not a virus but a Trojan horse -- a program that masquerades as beneficial software and then wreaks havoc. http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000830/2595927s.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - Ex-Nvidia engineer accused of insider trading In a case that began with a boss's euphoric e-mail about a mega-deal with Microsoft Corp., a San Jose software engineer has been charged with illegally pocketing nearly $500,000 in stock profits by using inside information circulating this spring at a Santa Clara chip design company. Both federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday hit Manu Shrivastava with charges that he broke insider trading laws in March, when he jumped on information that his employer, Nvidia Corp., had struck a deal with Microsoft to produce a graphics chip for a hot new video game console called the X-Box. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/front/docs/nvidia083000.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - Glitch left Internet bank accounts open to snoopers A security glitch left at least 800,000 Norwegian Internet bank accounts open to snoopers for two months until a 17 year-old boy pointed out the flaw, a published report said Wednesday. The Sparebanken Nor bank was told about the bug on Tuesday and immediately shut down and modified the service. ``There was one window that was open to those who hacked long enough. That window was closed yesterday, and we are happy about that,'' bank spokeswoman Mona Stroem Arnoey said. The bug made it possible for Internet bank customers to log onto their own account, and from there move to other accounts on the same database. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/024621.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - Messages reportedly can freeze Nokia Phones A Norwegian mobile Internet firm said Wednesday that some Nokia mobile phones may freeze temporarily if certain text messages are sent to them. The claim is the latest indication that mobile devices may face some of the same virus threats that have plagued personal computers in recent years. In May millions of PC's globally were bit by the `Love Bug'' virus. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/reuters/docs/357727l.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - Internet contributes to rise of identity theft, FTC says Calls to the Federal Trade Commission's identify theft hotline have tripled in the past six months, and the Internet is partly to blame. The FTC said today that it received an average of 1,000 calls per week to its Identity Theft hotline during the month of July. By comparison, the department received some 400 calls per week in March, said FTC attorney Helen Foster. "We think that perpetrators who would hesitate to show up to a bank or apply for a credit card in person would find it much easier to do over the Internet," Foster said. "Applying for credit over the Internet is a faceless thing to do." http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2654832.html - - - - - - - - - - - - Word documents susceptible to "Web bug" infestation Microsoft is weathering complaints that documents created with Microsoft Word and some of its other popular desktop applications can be embedded with electronic surveillance tags allowing document authors to track their use. The Privacy Foundation, which supports an Internet privacy research institute at the University of Denver, today published a report demonstrating how Word documents can be planted with "Web bugs" that can pass information about the use of the file back to the author. Web bugs can also be embedded in Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint slide show files, according to the report, which was authored by Privacy Foundation chief technology officer Richard Smith. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2652562.html - - - - - - - - - - - - Password glitch riles ICQ users America Online's efforts to bolster security for its ICQ instant messaging service are drawing complaints from some people who say the measures have locked them out of their accounts. AOL earlier this year revamped ICQ password verification procedures to stop account hijackings, which have been a persistent problem for the service. ICQ (short for "I seek you") accounts are numbered sequentially, and early accounts with low numbers are valuable targets for malicious hackers. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2652485.html - - - - - - - - - - - - Titan sues to block damaging anonymous Web postings Technology services firm Titan Corp. said Wednesday it filed a lawsuit in a California court in an effort to prevent short sellers from using anonymous Internet messages to drive down its stock price. The suit, which seeks damages and an injunction against further securities manipulation, was filed days after shares of Emulex Corp. plunged more than 50 percent when a bogus press release was posted on the Web claiming that the high-tech company's chief executive was resigning and that it was being forced to revise 1998, 1999 and fourth quarter earnings reports. The Emulex hoax has triggered fierce debate by investors and regulators over the Internet's role in stock trading and disseminating information. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/014606.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - Napster banned at 34 percent of colleges Thirty-four percent of 50 U.S. colleges and universities have banned students from using Napster Inc.'s song-swap service on their campuses, said a report released Wednesday by research firm Gartner Group Inc. Among the 17 colleges that banned Napster were New York University and Kent State, while Columbia University, Harvard and Stanford University are allowing students to access Napster. Gartner said Napster is raising several moral and legal issues for the schools as they prepare for the fall session, with administrators quickly making ban/no ban decisions and writing up policies to address these concerns. http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/073866.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - Philippines – Gambling Operator Faces Charges The battle to stop the operation of online gambling in the Philippines shifted from moral to legal Aug. 29 as lawmakers threatened to charge in court the local operator of the game and the government agency that issued its franchise. In a heated public hearing called by the joint Committees on Games and Amusements and the Legislative Franchises of the House of Representatives, opposition Congressmen Sergio Apostol and Prospero Pichay declared that they will file before the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office a criminal suit against Sports and Games Entertainment Corp., and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for violations of the Anti-Gambling Act. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/154464.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.