August 15, 2001 FBI, Scotland Yard arrest British man for writing e-mail computer worm A British man has been arrested on charges that he created and released a virus-like program that was designed to let hackers take control of home computers, American and British law enforcement officials announced Tuesday. FBI and Scotland Yard computer cops said a 24-year-old man was taken into custody July 23 and released to face trial later this year. Investigators said the man created the W32-Leave worm, which infected a few computers earlier this year. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/060741.htm http://europe.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/08/14/hacking.arrest/index.html http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_374814.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2093157,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/21028.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169060.html - - - - - - - - A fate worse than Napster: Korea's No. 1 song-swap service indicted Internet song-sharing software is downloaded and enjoyed by millions of music fans and becomes the talk of the nation. Record labels complain and seek to punish the program's creators for allegedly encouraging music piracy. So it goes for Soribada, or ``Sea of Sound,'' South Korea's answer to Napster. Except instead of facing a lawsuit, the two U.S.-educated brothers who authored the file swapping program are in deeper trouble. Yang Jung-hwan, 28, and his 32-year-old brother Yang Il-hwan were indicted Sunday on criminal charges of copyright violation. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/019175.htm - - - - - - - - Qwest gaining on Code Red worm Qwest Communications said that it has contacted all of its DSL customers hobbled by the Code Red worm and its successor, but has yet to say how many subscribers were affected. The company made courtesy calls to users whose service was interrupted or knocked out altogether when the worms caused certain Cisco routers to go haywire. Customers were contacted by telephone, e-mail and letter, informing them that the worm froze Cisco 675 and 678 modems. http://www.computeruser.com/news/01/08/15/news7.html Code Red II virus attacks HK government servers The Code Red II computer worm has attacked some of the Hong Kong government's internal servers causing temporary suspension of access, a government spokeswoman said on Wednesday. ``The first signs of infection appeared shortly after 6 p.m. on Monday and access to the Intranet was suspended soon afterwards,'' a spokeswoman with the Information Technology Services Department told Reuters. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1410999l.htm http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-6881595.html - - - - - - - - Appropriations Bills Yield More High-Tech Funding Congress has placed several important cyber- security initiatives into its House Energy and Water Appropriations bills, while the House Foreign Operations Appropriations bill contains international high-tech development funding. The House Energy bill, which offers a total of $23.7 billion in funding, contains $14.9 million for cyber-security supervision at the Energy Department. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169051.html - - - - - - - - Smuggling Stogies Online A growing number of foreign websites sell Cuban cigars to US residents, and there's nothing law enforcement can do about it. They're considered the most impressive of imports, the most refined of relaxations, the most vaunted of vices. They're Cuban cigars, and they have long been counted among the best cigars in the world. But if you live in the United States, you can't buy them. Thanks to the trade embargo the US government imposed on Cuba in 1962, Cuban cigars and all products from our Communist neighbor to the south, are considered contraband, and bringing them into the United States is illegal. http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/viceonline/story/0,23008,3336772,00.html - - - - - - - - Privacy experts slam snooping code of practice Cyber-liberty experts are frustrated that the Home Office consultation paper offers no guidelines on the legitimate interception of communications. Privacy experts have slammed the Home Office's draft Code of Practice for accessing communications data as a nebulous attempt to justify the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2093177,00.html - - - - - - - - Judges Want Criminal Cases Pulled From Web Court Records Criminal cases and any "personal identifiers" in federal court filings – such as birth dates and Social Security numbers – should not be made available online, a judicial panel urged today. The recommendations were handed down today by a panel of eight federal judges who examined the privacy and security issues raised by the government's plan to link files from all federal courts under a single Web-based system, known as PACERNet (Public Access To Court Electronic Records). http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169069.html - - - - - - - - Web bugs are swarming all over you Research released Monday shows that the use of surveillance technology popularly known as Web bugs is on the rise, putting online companies in a precarious position with the consumers they're snooping on. In the last three years, Web bug use has grown nearly 500 percent, according to Cyveillance, an Internet technology and analysis company. The flood can be traced to the number of secondary pages carrying the tags, including personal Web pages linked to large community sites and Internet service providers, the report found. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5095677,00.html Web bugs thrive like cockroaches http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/21038.html - - - - - - - - Yankee spies are rubbish, says Senate A Senate report into everybody's favourite snoopers the NSA has said that despite it having been given loads of money it is lagging behind in its spying prowess and has been "slow to adapt" to modern technological advances. "The National Security Agency is America's most important asset for technical collection of terrorism information, yet it is losing its capability to target and exploit the modern communications systems used by terrorists, seriously weakening the NSA's ability to warn of possible attacks, " said a report by the Senate Committee on Intelligence. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/21047.html - - - - - - - - Groups to detail privacy complaints about Windows XP to FTC Privacy and consumer groups will hand over new information today to federal regulators that beefs up their earlier charges that Microsoft's Windows XP computer operating system could mark the end of anonymous Web browsing if left unchecked. At the heart of their concern is Passport, Microsoft's online identification service that allows consumers to browse, shop and pay bills at various Web sites with a single sign-on and password. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/ms081501.htm http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/086113.htm - - - - - - - - Microsoft plans tighter security for .Net Microsoft hopes to eliminate denial of service attacks through greater security in its Common Language Runtime Future versions of Microsoft's Common Language Runtime (CLR), which is a vital component of its .NET strategy, will see upgrades to security, performance and scalability catering specifically for the needs of large Application Service Providers. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2093167,00.html - - - - - - - - Pentagon fights to keep its airwaves as wireless industry expands The Pentagon is facing a homegrown adversary: a communications industry that wants a slice of the military's airwaves for new products for gadget-happy consumers. Parents want to keep tabs on children by cell phone. People want their e-mail wherever they go. Wayward drivers want satellite-linked maps to find their way home. Those don't sound like military problems, but the products need airwaves. And the Pentagon is having to play defense to hang on to a piece of the sky coveted by the communications industry, even as its own spectrum needs keep growing. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/043623.htm - - - - - - - - Dutch Cryptographer Cries Foul A Dutch cryptography expert blasted as "horrific" the ambiguous legal reach of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which he feels bars him from publishing his work, even in the Netherlands. Niels Ferguson revealed last weekend at the Hackers at Large conference in Enschede, Netherlands that he had found a way around Intel Corporation's High- bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) for digital video. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46091,00.html - - - - - - - - LiveWire: fight back online against fraud and spam For every fraudster who calls on the phone or dares to knock on your door, there must be a dozen con artists prowling the Internet with promises of easy money, credit repair and Viagra. Not only has the pyramid scheme, its cousin the Ponzi, and every other known fraud found a home in cyberspace, they have also found fertile ground on which to multiply and proliferate. Fortunately, the Web also provides ways for the tech savvy to fight back against unscrupulous predators. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1412449l.htm - - - - - - - - How Senior Surfers Can Avoid Cons Consumers over the age of 50 are getting scammed online at a frightening rate. These tips will help keep your golden years from being tarnished by Internet cons. When 78 year-old Nancy Landers and her 83-year-old husband, Wes, borrowed approximately $15,000 against their credit cards to invest in a company called Cornerstone Prodigy Group, they thought they were providing for their golden years. Cornerstone, which described itself as a multi-level marketing company on its website, promised investors a 10 percent return on their total investment every month. And for a while, the company delivered on that promise. http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/internetfraud/story/0,23008,3340797,00.html - - - - - - - - CyberCrime Help Compromised by a hacker? Caught a virus? Taken by an online con artist? Find out how to protect yourself. Cyberspace can be an exciting place these days. But, unfortunately, it can also be a dangerous place, especially if you're unaware of the dangers and how to protect yourself. So we at "CyberCrime" thought we'd offer some tips and ideas for staying safe online. http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/aboutus/story/0,23008,3339221,00.html - - - - - - - - Dot-info domain manager will boot cybersquatters The company in charge of the new ''.info'' Internet domain says that it will seek to recover Internet addresses from dishonest applicants who grabbed hundreds of desirable names before they were made available to the public. But Afilias, a consortium of 18 domain-name companies, said on Tuesday it would not take action until December, after trademark holders have first had a chance to win domain names from cybersquatters who used fraudulent applications. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1410998l.htm - - - - - - - - Advertising Standards spanks companies over Net porn The Advertising Standards Authority has come down heavily on two companies using porn and sex as a means to sell their wares. Nothing new there, you say. But the ASA believes Emap and Inter-Mediates have gone too far. First of all, a joke email sent by Emap magazine MaxPower - a laddish car mag - was deemed to have "caused undue fear and distress". It was semi-disguised as an official document and was titled "RIPA. Legal Document. Please read. Regulation of Investigatory Power Act. Offence no.323 - Internet Perversion." http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/21027.html - - - - - - - - Yahoo porn controversy not for adults only COMMENTARY--The decision by Yahoo management to eliminate some of the adult content on its massive site fills me with gloom, not simply because it caved in to an organized protest from the fringe, but because when a universal site becomes provincial, we all lose. One of the targets at Yahoo was its retail operation, which listed porn tapes among thousands of others. This could not be permitted, argued the protesters. They are no doubt aware that porn tapes remain abundantly available, but by singling out a publicly traded company like Yahoo for embarrassment, they were able to validate their sense of power and get publicity, even if they had no effect on the porn industry itself. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2804585,00.html *********************************************************** Search the NewsBits.net Archive at: http://www.newsbits.net/search.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 2000-2001, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.