August 23, 2001 Internet paedophile jailed Ashford contacted girls on the internet. A paedophile who filmed sex sessions with underage girls he met in internet chatrooms has been sentenced to eight years in jail. Peter Ashford, 48, of Thetford in Norfolk, admitted a total of 13 charges against the girls at an earlier hearing. The charges included one count of rape, two of buggery, three counts of indecent assault and two charges of unlawful sexual intercourse. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1484000/1484377.stm - - - - - - - - Man charged with child porn A 31-year-old man was charged with 200 counts of child pornography possession after Tallahassee police found hundreds of pictures, some depicting children as young as 5, on his home computer. Mark E. Mizelle of Tallahassee was released Monday from the Leon County Jail on $25,000 bail, according to records. The charge is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. http://web.tallahasseedemocrat.com/content/tallahassee/2001/08/21/local/0821.loc.pornbust.htm - - - - - - - - Man arrested for computer porn A Royal Palm Beach man thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl for a sexual rendezvous in Plantation Tuesday, but he was met instead by a Broward County sheriff's deputy with handcuffs. Mohamed Ghanie, 26, of 192 Gulfstream Circle, was arrested and charged with one count of computer pornography, a third degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, the report said. http://www.gopbi.com/news/story5.html - - - - - - - - Inept would-be hacker gets three years in jail A man has been convicted of blackmail after he threatened to hack into the computers of Barclays Bank unless he was paid £200 000. Bungling blackmailer Stuart Kearns, 24, faces three years in prison after threatening the collapse of the computer system in the Barclays branch in Beckenham High Street and others in Barclays' network unless the bank complied with his extortion demands. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/21222.html - - - - - - - - Hacker invades paintball company web site; forces trade halt In the latest in a spate of corporate cyber-invasions, a hacker broke into a paintball company's Web site and sent out phony financial statements Thursday, forcing the Nasdaq stock market to halt trading in the company's shares for more than two hours. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/041127.htm http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,46277,00.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/invest/2001-08-23-hacker-paintball.htm - - - - - - - - U.S. arraignment delayed for Russian hacker A Russian software programmer arrested on charges of violating a controversial U.S. copyright law saw his arraignment postponed for one week Thursday as lawyers attempt to work out a settlement in a case which has prompted international protests. Dmitry Sklyarov had been scheduled to face charges Thursday morning in San Jose federal district court, but a judge postponed it until Aug. 30 to allow the defense and prosecution more time to negotiate a possible deal, lawyers on both sides said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/026275.htm Plea bargain possible in electronic book copyright protection case http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/65947p-941130c.html - - - - - - - - Oklahoma Paper Distances Itself From Hacker Flap The publisher of a small Oklahoma newspaper suddenly caught in the middle of a national debate over what constitutes illegal "hacking" is working feverishly to reassure an angry e-mail mob that his paper has nothing to do with a controversial government prosecution. "We never filed any charges and we're not involved with the lawsuit at all," Poteau Daily News publisher Grover Ford said of the increasingly visible case of Brian West - an Internet services salesman who has been charged on several computer crime counts by federal authorities. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169317.html - - - - - - - - Grocer Says Trade Secrets Revealed On Yahoo, Sues Writer A Minnesota grocery distributor has sued an anonymous writer accused of divulging the company's trade secrets while participating in a Yahoo message board forum. Nash Finch, a grocer with more than $4 billion in annual revenues, owns 111 retail stores around the United States, including the Econofoods and Sun Mart chains. It charges that the anonymous poster - probably an employee or someone working in concert with employees - violated contracts and misappropriated trade secrets in comments posted on Yahoo. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169361.html - - - - - - - - Pirated music battle spreads overseas At the height of Napster's court battles, some committed file swappers had an idea: We'll set up shop overseas, outside the reach of U.S. courts and copyright organizations. That vision is beginning to take shape, as international versions of Napster spring up around the world. But they're already meeting their own legal resistance--led in many areas by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), an organization that is slowly gaining new prominence in the industry's global fight to quash Net piracy. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2807154,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6950486.html - - - - - - - - Suit Blames MP3.com For 'Viral' Piracy Independent publishers use novel legal strategy in copyright infringement suit against Internet music site. In a novel legal twist to online copyright- infringement lawsuits, a group of 52 independent songwriters and music publishers is suing MP3.com on charges that it knew it was promoting piracy by the very act of encoding songs in the MP3 file format. http://www.techtv.com/news/politicsandlaw/story/0,24195,3343930,00.html - - - - - - - - Game piracy war erupting at Sydney market The organisers of Sydney’s famous Paddy’s Markets have joined with Sony Australia to stamp out small- time software pirates operating on the unofficial retail market level. Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) Australia and Sydney Markets Limited today announced a joint campaign to help reduce piracy of PlayStation games at Australia’s biggest community markets. http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/breakingnews/story/0,2000020826,20256096,00.htm - - - - - - - - Judge: Cable ISP Must Give Customer Info To Feds Optimum Choice, a cable Internet service provider (ISP) operated by New York-based Cablevision, confirmed today that a federal judge has ordered the company to turn over information about its customers to federal authorities without alerting the customers that their information is being sought. Although Cablevision sources confirmed the decision, they declined to comment on the case until Monday, when the judge in the case is expected to publish his verdict. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169358.html - - - - - - - - Judge: Anti-Abortion Web Site Operator Must Remove Data An Illinois circuit court judge Wednesday ruled that an anti-abortion Web site operator must remove information he published online about medical complications a woman suffered after receiving an abortion. In his preliminary injunction against the Web site data, State Third Circuit Court Judge George Moran said that Stephen Wetzel, who runs the Missionaries To the Unborn (MTTU) Web site, violated the woman's privacy. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169346.html http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,46261,00.html - - - - - - - - Excite@Home snoops on user downloads for pirated warez The company is scanning its customers' Internet activity and says it will terminate the accounts of those users who are downloading pirated material. Excite@Home Australia users are up in arms over the telco's random raids on their broadband accounts in search of pirate activity, with many saying it's an invasion of their privacy. http://www.securitynewsportal.com/article.php?sid=1618 - - - - - - - - India Probes Muckraking Site India said on Thursday it would investigate a news website's use of prostitutes in a hidden-camera operation that exposed widespread graft and influence- peddling in defense procurement. "The Home (interior) Ministry will fully investigate if anyone has broken the law to collect news in the name of investigative journalism," parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan said. "Very strict action will be taken against them." http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46258,00.html - - - - - - - - DVD Cracking Case, Western Style The two-pronged, bi-coastal legal war being waged against individuals who have distributed a code that can circumvent encryption on DVDs now focuses on First Amendment issues being raised in San Jose. Thursday's court battle was to be held in front of a three-judge panel that makes up California's Sixth District Court of Appeals. The case focuses on an injunction filed against 21 individuals and 400 unnamed people accused of stealing trade secrets. http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,46270,00.html - - - - - - - - Qwest asked to refund for Code Red outages The state attorney general has asked Qwest to give refunds to customers who lost high-speed Internet connections as a result of the "Code Red" computer worm attack, but the Denver-based Internet access provider is refusing. Customers using Qwest DSL service experienced intermittent outages for about 10 days after Qwest and Cisco, which makes modems for the DSL lines, were hit by the worm. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-08-23-qwest-code-red.htm - - - - - - - - Judge Slams Monitoring Of Court Staff Web Use A plan to routinely monitor the Internet use of all federal judges and their staff could endanger the confidentiality of sensitive court documents and create an atmosphere of paranoia among judiciary employees, a federal judge has warned. "No one condones using government property to download pornography, to gamble, or to conduct personal profit-making business during office hours," wrote Judge Edith H. Jones, a federal judge for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169357.html - - - - - - - - Dead People, Fake Letters, Support Microsoft - Report State attorneys general locked in an antitrust battle with Microsoft have received hundreds of homespun letters of late from constituents urging the states to drop their case against the software giant. But now it appears that many - if not all - of those letters were sent as a result of a carefully orchestrated letter writing campaign funded in part by Microsoft, according to the Los Angeles Times. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169355.html - - - - - - - - Wireless Protocol Too Weak for "Official Use Only" Protocol used for 802.11b standard is not strong enough for information at ‘official use only’ security status, expert says. Wireless networks are fast to set up and flexible enough to let workers roam through an office or campus. But “you would not want to trust anything sensitive to today’s 802.11b” wireless LAN standard, said Maj. David A. Nash, an electrical engineering and computer sciences instructor for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. http://www.gcn.com/20_24/security/16838-1.html Users of wireless networks beware: Eavesdropping is easier Airports, schools and hotels might want to look closer at the wireless Internet networks they increasingly have been installing as a convenience for the must-stay- connected crowd. A new program called AirSnort, released on the Internet this week, enables enterprising hackers to easily grab passwords and other sensitive data as they are being transmitted through the air -- unless certain precautions have been taken. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/013166.htm - - - - - - - - MSN: Hotmail 'forwarding' message a hoax Another fake email is circulating in Hotmail, asking users to spread it to everyone they know to help prevent 'overloading' Microsoft has warned users of its Hotmail service to disregard an email in circulation that instructs them to forward it to all Hotmail users they know. The message, purportedly from someone called Jon Henerd of the "Hotmail administrative department", said that Hotmail was running low on resources due to "the sudden rush of people signing up" and that it needed to remove inactive accounts. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2093652,00.html - - - - - - - - Unix, Linux Admins Urged To Upgrade Sendmail Security Security experts and vendors of Linux and other Unix- like operating systems are urging network administrators to replace some versions of popular e-mail server software known as Sendmail, because the most recent open-source versions can provide a doorway for local hackers. Since malicious individuals would need to gain command-line access to a server in order to exploit the vulnerability, the problem is greatest for organizations such as Internet service providers or universities that regularly provide shell access to users. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169354.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft releases tools to improve security Hoping to reduce the impact of hacker attacks such as the ``Code Red'' worm, Microsoft on Thursday was releasing a security tool designed to help less technically sophisticated users eliminate vulnerabilities in their servers. The free, downloadable security tool helps users disable functions and settings that could leave their servers open to an attack, said Scott Culp, Microsoft's security program manager. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/010099.htm http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-6953854.html - - - - - - - - Wolfpack contractors rounded up The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will pay seven contractors to develop electronic warfare technologies under the Wolfpack program. The Wolfpack program focuses on developing technologies and architectures for ground-based, close-proximity, distributed, networked systems that will augment existing electronic warfare systems. DARPA officials envision portable and handheld applications as they are particularly interested in minimizing size, weight, power and cost. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0820/web-darpa-08-23-01.asp - - - - - - - - Cybersquatting Not The 'American Way' - Advocacy Group An organization that says it's devoted to free- speech and civil rights stands out like a sore thumb among trademark holders aiming to shut down Web site operators who make hay out of sound-alike Internet domain names. However, the political action group People For The American Way (PFAW) says freedom of expression doesn't have to include cybersquatting. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169359.html - - - - - - - - Are Viruses, Trojans and Worms on Wireless Horizon? Computer viruses -- and their nasty cousins, worms and trojan horses -- draw attention like honey draws bees or blood draws mosquitoes: Their lure is primitive. Like biological viruses, they carry out their programmed functions with mindless disregard for the harm they cause. And while these snippets of malicious code can seem merciless, the truth is that they are merely efficient, like any well- designed program. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010823/tc/13029_1.html - - - - - - - - Official slaps at facial scanning A Jacksonville, Fla., councilwoman has introduced legislation banning the use of facial-recognition technology by the Sheriff’s Office and other city agencies. "I want to do those things I can to stop [an] invasion of privacy," said Councilwoman at Large Gwen Chandler-Thompson, who proposed the resolution last week. "I don’t want Big Brother watching me. I thought it would be wise to be proactive rather than reactive." http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169348.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/fcw2.htm - - - - - - - - Abuse database helps cops A private, nonprofit Pennsylvania group has created a secure, statewide Internet database of protection orders with the full text of the documents. The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the first such state coalition in the country, launched the Protection from Abuse Database (PFAD), in March 1999. Authorized users — police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, court officials and domestic violence advocates — can view an entire case history online, including orders filed, pleadings, status and other documents without searching for a paper version. http://www.civic.com/civic/articles/2001/0820/web-pfad-08-23-01.asp - - - - - - - - Digital Padlocks: Hacker-proof CDs shrouded in secrecy Slipped quietly alongside regular music CDs in record stores, mostly in Europe, are more than 1 million secretly altered discs -- stealth compact discs that represent the recording industry's hopes for a solution to digital music piracy. The five major record labels aren't disclosing many details on this experiment in copy protection -- including which artists' works have been digitally padlocked -- and various different technologies are used. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/060310.htm *********************************************************** 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.