November 6, 2001 FTC, FDA target bioterrorism Web sites The government is investigating hundreds of Internet sites offering products to counter bioterrorism. The Federal Trade Commission disclosed the widening investigation Tuesday, telling a lawmaker that more Web sites claiming to fight bioterrorism are being launched every day. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/11/06/anthrax-sites.htm - - - - - - - - Sex Web sites settle fraud charges Playgirl, High Society and others pay fines after they charge customers for 'free' services. The operators of www.playgirl.com and several other Web sites offering adult-oriented have agreed to pay $30m (£20m) to settle charges that they illegally billed thousands of customers for what were advertised as free services, the US Federal Trade Commission has said. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2098646,00.html - - - - - - - - Bin Laden hackers denounce founder Leet German script k1dd13 and would-be investment guru Kim Schmitz aka Kimble, who recently promoted his YIHAT (Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terror- ism) Ninja force with loose claims to have hacked a Sudanese bank with /bin/laden accounts, has been denounced by two people claiming to be members of his organization. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/22681.html - - - - - - - - 'White Hat' Hackers Threaten Information Anarchy Responding to an effort by Microsoft to squelch the full disclosure of software vulnerabilities, a group of "white hat" hackers is putting out a call to other experts, asking them to deluge software vendors with bug reports. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171900.html - - - - - - - - From threats to war, cybersecurity enters new era The Internet's greatest asset -- its open, ubiquitous nature -- is turning out to be its greatest liability. With 500 million people logged on to the global computer network, it is now clear that a system originally set up to facilitate communication between university professors and defense contractors may not offer much in the way of protection against malicious attacks. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/019656.htm Cybersecurity concerns take center stage http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/11/06/cybersecurity.htm Researcher scans the security scene http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/11/06/ebrief.htm - - - - - - - - DOS Attacks Possible Via Printer Networks - CERT Certain printer networks could be used to trigger denial of service (DOS) attacks through vulner- abilities in the systems' line printer daemon (LPD) implementations, warns the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT). http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171899.html - - - - - - - - Bug eats into Apple's iTunes A bug in some early copies of Apple Computer's iTunes 2 music software has wiped out data from the hard drives of a few people who tried to install the new version of the jukebox program. Apple said the problem, an error in the program that installs the new version of iTunes, affected a "limited number" of Mac owners who were running the Mac OS X operating system and had multiple hard drives or hard drive partition. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5099271,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-7797780.html - - - - - - - - Energy ramps up its cyber-security Public-key infrastructure and IT security training are two top priorities for the Energy Department as it recovers from the security lapses that sparked widespread criticism in 1999 and 2000. John L. Przysucha, Energy's associate CIO for cybersecurity, said his office is setting up an online knowledge center where managers can discuss drafts of computer security policies. http://www.computeruser.com/news/01/11/03/news5.html - - - - - - - - House To Vote On Uniting Financial Fraud Databases The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to vote today whether to link more than 250 state and federal financial-fraud databases in a single network. The House is expected to vote on H.R. 1408, the "Financial Services Antifraud Network Act," a bill that would allow state and federal financial fraud investigators to share their fraud databanks over the Internet. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171897.html - - - - - - - - Bill To Give Tax Break For Security Gear In Congress A bill introduced in the House in late September that would offer companies tax breaks for buying biometrics and other cyber-security devices has been holding fast at the committee level since its unveiling. Introduced by Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill., the Securing America Investment Act of 2001, H.R. 2970, allows businesses to write off "qualifying" security devices for the fiscal year that the devices are actually put into service. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171912.html - - - - - - - - Welcome to the era of drive-by hacking BBC News Online has been shown just how lax security is on wireless networks used in London's financial centre. On one short trip, two-thirds of the networks we discovered using a laptop and free software tools were found to be wide open. Any maliciously minded hacker could easily join these networks and piggy back on their fast net links, steal documents or subvert other machines on the systems to do their bidding. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1639000/1639661.stm - - - - - - - - Spam floods i-mode network DoCoMo is to invest in blocking unwanted emails on its Internet mobile phone service. NTT DoCoMo, Japan's dominant mobile phone operator, said on Tuesday it would spend 1bn yen ($8.22m) to build systems to block unwanted emails, or spam, sent over its 'i-mode' Internet mobile phone service. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2098697,00.html - - - - - - - - Survey: Forty percent accidentally get 'net porn Some 40 percent of Internet users in Britain say they have accidentally come across pornography while surfing, according to a survey by the Consumers' Association. It said parents among 7,000 people surveyed reported being shocked to come across pornographic Web sites, sometimes when browsing with their children. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1629603l.htm - - - - - - - - Warner licenses music to Echo Networks The label that controls song rights to some of the biggest one-name acts in popular music -- including Madonna, Bjork and Seal -- granted its first independent distribution license Monday to San Francisco-based Echo Networks. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/echo110601.htm http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/business/docs/echo06.htm Napster clones' popularity swells http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5099235,00.html File-swapping case may break new ground http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7798704.html EFF Counsels 'Betamax Defense' For Morpheus - Update http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171903.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft: No relief from security attacks Microsoft's security response center must be feeling a little punch-drunk these days. After the one-two combination of the Code Red and Nimda worms that targeted the company's server and PC software this past summer, the titan announced an initiative in early October to promote security-savvy administration among its partners. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5099246,00.html Microsoft tries to cage security gremlins http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2098676,00.html Microsoft, researchers tussle over security issues http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/050585.htm - - - - - - - - Privacy Groups Petition House Subcommittee On Microsoft XP Two consumer-oriented privacy groups Monday asked a House subcommittee to question Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris on his agency's role in protecting consumers from privacy and security risks they say are inherent in Microsoft's new XP operating system and its Passport program. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/171909.html - - - - - - - - Reverse firewall dams DoS flood In a bid to fight the growing menace from computer and router-based denial of service (DoS) attacks, security firm have developed a technique to dam the DoS data flood at source. Using funding from the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), security technology firm Cs3 is looking a the concept of reverse firewalling, or keeping the flood of data from a DoS attack dammed up at the source. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1126617 - - - - - - - - Sensor-on-a-chip passes fingerprint test A new fingerprint scanning technology has been unveiled by Florida company AuthenTec. The EntréPad sensor is low power and robust, and the company says it is suitable for cellphone and PDA use as well as fixed installations. Integrated into one chip, the device is less than a centimetre square and uses under ten milliwatts when imaging. The finger under test is applied to the top surface of the chip, which has an especially hardened coating, and identification takes place in under a second. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2822770,00.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2098703,00.html - - - - - - - - Security Beyond Your Borders One month after the federal government warned that the nation's IT infrastructure could become a target of terrorist attacks meant to disrupt or disable businesses, many companies say it's become practically a patriotic duty to review internal IT security procedures and take steps to bolster these operations. http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011102S0005 - - - - - - - - E-security: Not just a bit player in information age The devastating effects of the World Trade Center disaster have rippled far beyond the New York City financial district and affected industries ranging from airlines to retail to manufacturing. Clearly we are in a different business environment, as corporations face a new reality filled with previously unimaginable threats. http://sanjose.bcentral.com/sanjose/stories/2001/11/05/editorial3.html - - - - - - - - Network security tightens up after attacks Businesses throughout the Tampa Bay area wage their own wars against cyberterrorism. Ed Martin, security manager at Sykes Enterprises Inc. in Tampa, makes data and physical security decisions for the e-commerce and customer relationship management call center company which includes international financial firms among its customers. http://tampabay.bcentral.com/tampabay/stories/2001/11/05/focus1.html - - - - - - - - Young warriors of the Web hack away at the enemy's financial roots "What I am doing here is very risky," explains 27-year old German computer hacker-turned-businessman Kim Schmitz. "I'm not only risking my freedom, but also my life. I've had threats from several sources. If one fanatic thinks he would do a favour to somebody who doesn't like me in the Islamic world, it's the easiest thing just to come by and give me a bullet.'' http://www.smh.com.au/news/0111/03/world/world20.html - - - - - - - - On why hacking victms shouldn't fight shy of the cops WHY IS it that though so much hacking is taking place, we do not see that many registrations of hacking cases? Is it because they are not reported or because there are no cases being registered at all? Rajnath Singh, Gurgaon It is true that there's a lot of hacking happening in our country, especially for commercial benefit. Most of them are directed at corporate websites, networks and databases. http://www.economictimes.com/today/04know02.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.