September 14, 2001 IBM exec arrested for bomb threat An employee of IBM was arrested on Wednesday night for a bomb-hoax in connection with a Singapore Airlines flight, and will be charged in a Singapore court Friday, police said. The New Zealand man allegedly sent an e-mail on the morning after the terrorist hijackings in the US, claiming there was a bomb on board flight SQ 422 to Johannesburg, South Africa. He as believed to be a passenger on that flight. It is not known to whom he had directed the e-mail. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/newsbursts/0,7407,2812421,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7164665.html - - - - - - - - China nabs first hacker for posting porn on sites Police have arrested a computer student suspected of littering government-run Web sites with pornography in China's first seizure of an Internet hacker, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. Police in the central province of Hubei detained 19-year-old Wang Qun last month on suspicion of posting erotica on the homepage of a well-known science Web site, the news agency said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1485962l.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/newsbursts/0,7407,2812412,00.html - - - - - - - - Kournikova Virus Writer Stands Trial Dutch court considers light punishment for first- time offender. Saying that people should be able to use PCs and the Internet without interference, a Dutch public prosecutor has asked the court here to sentence the 20-year-old maker of the Anna Kournikova e-mail worm to 240 hours of civil service. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,61864,00.asp http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2095252,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7164744.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170111.html - - - - - - - - Fluffi Bunni UK web hack hits thousands Thousands of UK websites had their traffic redirected this morning by hacker Fluffi Bunni, with surfers treated instead to a rant against both religion and US economic imperialism. On the redirected page, Fluffi Bunni asks "for Mr Bin Laden and $5m in a brown paper bag" in exchange for repairing the hack. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1125449 'Fluffi Bunni' hacker declares Jihad http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/57/21668.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170106.html - - - - - - - - Online merchant emails customer credit card details Dabs.com has booted merchants BuyB4Sold.com off its Dabsxchange auction site after the latter committed a serious security breach involving its customers' credit card details. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/23/21656.html - - - - - - - - British cyberpolice ask providers to retain all data after terrorist attacks in the United States. British authorities have asked all phone companies and Internet service providers to preserve communications data stored Tuesday in case they contain important clues to the identity of the terrorists who attacked Washington and New York. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/029760.htm - - - - - - - - Networks boost security against attacks An FBI warning has administrators of the nation's corporate networks double-checking--and double- locking--their systems in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. But despite the federal Terrorist Threat Advisory, which calls for IT professionals across the country to "implement appropriate security measures--both physical and cyber," experts say corporate America is a long way from ready, or safe. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2812457,00.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/629137.asp - - - - - - - - Hacker Group Urges Restraint Against Islamic Sites The Chaos Computer Club (CCC), a well-known German hacker organization, has appealed to hackers worldwide to refrain from trying to destroy Islamic Web sites and Web-based communication systems. After the deadly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon on Washington, D.C., the CCC issued a press release saying that e-mail is being "passed around in the hacker's scene" urging that Islamic Web sites be brought down. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170110.html - - - - - - - - Crackers Prepare Retaliation For Terrorist Attack While the federal government tracks down suspects for questioning in Tuesday's attack against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, cracker groups and individual crackers are plotting their own attack. The group is calling itself the Dispatchers, and, in a letter posted to the Web on Sept. 12, the group said it has already disabled ISPs in Palestine and is targeting ISPs in Afghanistan with the explicit goal of destroying them. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170117.html Hackers divided over response to terrorism Groups of online vandals and hackers are split over how to respond to this week's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with some Internet vigilantes calling for an assault on perceived terrorist sites and others pleading for calm. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7166935.html - - - - - - - - FBI computer security center warns of increased hacking The FBI’s National Infrastructure Protection Center warned government agencies and businesses Friday of a likely increase in computer hacking following Tuesday’s terrorist attacks. NIPC issued its advisory, “Increased Cyber Awareness,” in part because of a virus already spreading that, the organization said, appears “to be related to the World Trade Center.” http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0901/091401j1.htm Analyst says cyberattacks are next wave A wave of cyberattacks against government and business systems is likely once the military response begins against Tuesday’s terrorist attacks, a former National Security Agency analyst said this week. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17080-1.html - - - - - - - - Digital privacy may suffer in wake of attacks Privacy advocates warned Thursday against the dangers of increased Internet wiretapping and monitoring by law enforcement in the wake of Tuesday's hijacked airplane attacks on landmark buildings in New York and outside Washington, D.C. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1484734l.htm - - - - - - - - Senator calls for encryption crackdown The horror of Tuesday's coordinated attacks on the commercial and military centers of America has prompted the U.S. Congress to call for a global ban on "uncrackable" encryption products. Speaking in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, Senator Judd Gregg proposed tighter restrictions on software that scrambles electronic data and often hinders a government's ability to obtain valuable criminal intelligence. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2812463,00.html - - - - - - - - Senate Expands Surveillance Powers Following Attacks In the wake of the worst-ever terrorist attack to strike U.S. soil, the Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would dramatically expand the powers of law enforcement agencies to track the online activities of suspected criminals and terrorists. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170126.html http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46852,00.html - - - - - - - - Spying on Terrorists and Thwarting Them Gains New Urgency Hoping to prevent future terrorist attacks, House and Senate lawmakers expressed broad support today for funneling more money to intelligence operations, beefing up spy networks and creating one agency to handle terrorism. The nation spends an estimated $10 billion a year to fight terrorism, a sum that many lawmakers from both parties called inadequate and that is likely to be increased this session. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/14/national/14INTE.html - - - - - - - - Hiding Like Snakes in the E-Grass The proliferation of cell phones, e-mail and faxes is making the hunt for terrorists increasingly more difficult. Security agencies have literally billions of messages to sift through every day -- many with encryptions that make it impossible for anyone other than the intended recipient to read. "If you have a computer looking for 'bomb,' you'll get a lot of messages that have nothing to do with terroristhreats, while the terrorists will be using code words." http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,46817,00.html - - - - - - - - This is how we know Echelon exists The European Parliament published its report into the Echelon spying system last week in which it concluded it did exist, was against the law and that the UK had a lot of explaining to do. We've sifted through about 100 of the 194 pages and decided that since no one had yet to officially admit its existence, you may be interested in how the European Parliament decided it was definitely out there. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/21680.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.