October 3, 2001 EBay users: Auctions plagued by fraud, I.D. theft More than half a dozen eBay users last week alerted the online auction company to an identity theft and a series of fraudulent auctions allegedly stemming from Ukraine. However, the victims of the scam are accusing eBay of being slow to respond because of its 30-day waiting policy for accepting fraud complaints online. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cw2.htm - - - - - - - - House Panel To Vote On Anti-Terrorism Surveillance The powerful U.S. House Judiciary Committee today is expected to vote on whether to substantially expand law-enforcement powers to track the phone and Internet activities of suspected criminals and terrorists. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170778.html http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47264,00.html - - - - - - - - Wiretap Bill Has Troubling 'Back Door' The Bush administration's proposal for expanding law enforcement's surveillance capabilities would let agents monitor a suspected hacker without any judicial review, according to speakers at Tuesday's Congressional Internet Caucus briefing. Section 106 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 deals with intercepting "computer trespasser" communications. If the operator of a "protected computer" -- an Internet service provider -- believes someone is accessing the system without permission, the operator can ask federal investigators for help. That assistance would involve wiretapping the intruder's communications without any judicial oversight, said John Podesta, a law professor at Georgetown University. http://www.antionline.com/showthread.php?threadid=116359 - - - - - - - - Keys called target for terrorists A panel of experts and members of Congress spoke out against legislation that would force those using encryption software to hand over decoding keys to third-party organizations. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/1001/web-keys-10-03-01.asp Zimmermann defends strong crypto against govt assault Strong cryptography does more good for society than harm and placing backdoors in encryption products to allow law enforcement access to plain text messages would be "worse than futile", encryption guru Phil Zimmermann told The Register today. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/22014.html - - - - - - - - FTC plans U-turn on privacy law The Federal Trade Commission, under a new Republican appointed chairman, plans to reverse its earlier support for new privacy legislation and instead emphasize enforcement of existing laws, government and industry sources said Wednesday. FTC Chairman Timothy Muris is expected to say Thursday in a long anticipated speech that he does not see the need for new legislation that would give consumers greater control over how information about them is shared between businesses, both over the Internet and in the offline world. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5097801,00.html http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/10/03/ftc.industry.ap/index.html http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,47262,00.html - - - - - - - - Web sites pull materials, citing attacks-related security concerns. Before Sept. 11, the Federation of American Scientists' Web site offered details on obscure or secret U.S. intelligence facilities. Another site detailed special gatherings at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, while yet another accepted orders for maps of military installations. No longer. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/079398.htm - - - - - - - - AIM Users Vulnerable To Crashing Bug A bug in America Online's AOL Instant Messenger program for Windows allows a malicious user to crash other AIM users, security experts advised today. The attack, which may have been in use underground for some time, involves sending an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) user a specially crafted instant message. Upon receipt of the notification of the message, the victim's AIM program will crash and require re-starting. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170781.html - - - - - - - - Forman sees ally in Ridge Mark Forman, the Bush administration's top e-government official, said Oct. 2 he intends to work closely with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge in his new role as the head of the Office of Homeland Security. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/1001/web-forman-10-03-01.asp Army secretary to lead DOD homeland security http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17210-1.html - - - - - - - - NIST awards security grants The National Institute of Standards and Technology on Oct. 2 awarded nine research grants totaling $5 million for projects to enhance the security of critical infrastructures, such as electricity and telecommunications. Under the Critical Infrastructure Protection Grants Program, NIST made awards to five companies, three universities and two commercial/academic partnerships. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/1001/web-nist-10-03-01.asp - - - - - - - - Fear Along the Firewall America's computer databases and satellite navigation systems are vulnerable to attack. One of the first moves in America's new war on terrorism took place Sept. 5, six days before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The target: a Richardson, Texas, company called InfoCom that hosts Arabic Websites. An 80-man terrorism task force launched a three-day raid, crashing 500 Internet sites, freezing bank accounts, and copying information from the company's hard drives. http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=204391 - - - - - - - - Music, film firms sue online file-swapping sites Music and film studios on Wednesday said they have filed a new lawsuit in their mounting assault against online piracy, naming three file-swapping Web sites that enable users to download copyrighted music, films and other files for free. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1537919l.htm http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/10/3/swap-sites-sued.htm Record industry sues Napster clones http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5097762,00.html Suit hits popular post-Napster network http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7389552.html?tag=tp_pr RIAA Sues Napster Clones: Kazaa, Morpheus and Grokster http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/170798.html File Trading Sites in Crosshairs http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,47296,00.html - - - - - - - - Downturn to hamper Asian piracy fight Cash-strapped companies may be tempted by low-cost pirated software, making it harder for software companies to crack down. Efforts to clamp down on the illegal use of software in Asia could prove futile as businesses become increasingly cash-strapped in the economic downturn. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2096522,00.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft steps up software security Microsoft on Wednesday announced a new initiative to help customers improve the security of their networks after a string of high-profile viruses targeted Microsoft software used to run Web sites. ``As an industry leader, Microsoft recognizes it has a special obligation to help ensure the security of the Internet and our customers' data,'' Brian Valentine, senior vice president of the Windows Division at Microsoft, said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/046334.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5097789,00.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/637592.asp http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47289,00.html Microsoft attempts to allay security fears http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7396207.html - - - - - - - - The trouble with Internet Explorer Since the Nimda worm recently exploited a common vulnerability in Internet Explorer, one would think that Microsoft might make it easy for you and me to get our browsers up-to-date. Unfortunately, Microsoft has elected to continue its policy of piecemeal patches, even in the wake of this costly worm attack. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2815783,00.html Huge security hole in Internet Explorer for MacOS http://slashdot.org/articles/01/10/02/2211203.shtml - - - - - - - - Firing (and Hiring) Hackers The Air Force kicks out a cadet for an alleged incident of hacking. But meanwhile, military and government officials are trying to recruit hackers left and right. In March of 1999, Chris Wiest was dishonorably discharged from the United States Air Force Academy after being convicted by a military court of "illegally accessing a computer system and causing damage." http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/digitaldisputes/story/0,23008,3338661,00.html - - - - - - - - Security Ambassadors A few years ago, American Family Mutual Insurance Co. ran its IT operations like most other companies do: Business units would hand down an order for a new program or functionality, and IT would build it. And as in most large organizations, a security manager would attempt to advise developers on vulnerable points and security requirements. But that approach stretched the lone security manager too thin, says Mike Kleckner, who held that position at American Family three years ago. So Winnie Schumann, director of enterprise technology strategies at the Madison, Wis.-based company, decided to put security controls into the hands of the systems specialists who knew their technology the best. Then, she handed the choices of individual security controls to the business units that owned the data in question. http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO64308,00.html - - - - - - - - 'Rogue Spear' to train military to tackle terrorists Ubi Soft Entertainment, one of the world's largest video game companies, is licensing technology used to create counterterrorist simulation game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear to help train soldiers. The Department of Defense plans to use the game engine — the programming that powers the game's logic — to train troops to fight terrorists in urban terrain. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/games/2001/10/2/rainbow-army.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.