November 28, 2001 Police make global swoop on Internet child porn Detectives across the world arrested more than 130 people Wednesday in an unprecedented global crackdown on child pornography, British police said. Britain's National Criminal Squad (NCS), which coordinated the probe, said it had been the world's largest collaborative policing operation in any terms. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/031512.htm http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2099991,00.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172476.html http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,48677,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23071.html http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/newsbursts/0,7407,2828119,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8004722.html http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/11/28/world.arrests/index.html - - - - - - - - Satanic Hacking Group Targets Church Sites A group calling itself Hacking For Satan has vandalized 25 church Web sites in the past week, replacing their home pages with a message about Satanism. On Tuesday, the group attacked sites of six churches in the eastern U.S., according to the Alldas defacement archive. The page created by the attackers included an image of a goat's head in a star, known as the Sigil of Baphomet, and the words "Owned by Hacking For Satan." http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172482.html - - - - - - - - Philippine Hackers Deface Sites To 'Expose Flaws' Saying they're out to help Philippine-based system administrators and MIS managers discover "flaws in the their computer systems," a group of Filipino "freelance security enthusiasts" called Team Asianpride recently went on a hacking spree. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172496.html - - - - - - - - BadTrans' Teeth Proving Hard To Pull As the new BadTrans worm continued to spread today, authorities struggled to contain the malicious code's ability to steal passwords and other sensitive information from victims. Besides code for infecting other systems, the BadTrans.B worm installs Trojan.PSW.Hooker, a program that records user keystrokes and attempts to capture passwords and other sensitive information. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172495.html Badtrans virus menaces e-mail http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17550-1.html - - - - - - - - DOJ's Already Monitoring Modems The Department of Justice already is using its new anti-terrorism powers to monitor cable modem users without obtaining a judge's permission first. A top Bush administration official lauded the controversial USA Patriot Act at a Senate hearing on Wednesday, saying that the new abilities have let police obtain information in investigations that was previously unavailable. http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,48711,00.html - - - - - - - - Court upholds ban on DVD-cracking code A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld an order that prohibits publishing or linking to DVD-cracking code--a decision with sweeping significance for free speech rights and copyright protection on the Internet. The decision for now upholds a controversial law known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and prevents Web site 2600 and its publisher, Eric Corley, from posting links to computer code known as DeCSS-- a program that allows DVD movies to be decoded and played on personal computers. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8011238.html - - - - - - - - House Passes Federal Computer Security Bill The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation designed to increase the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) role in enhancing U.S. network infrastructure security. By a vote of 391-4, the House passed H.R. 1259, a bill introduced by Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md., to establish the Maryland-based institute as the lead federal agency in computer security matters. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172464.html - - - - - - - - Court ponders whether government went too far with COPA. Congress cannot wall off part of the Internet just because many Americans might think it contains material harmful to children, a lawyer for operators of sexually explicit Web sites argued to the Supreme Court on Wednesday. There is no such thing as an objective nationwide standard to judge what is damaging for youngsters but might have artistic, educational or other value for adults, said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Ann Beeson. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/047870.htm http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1687186l.htm http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172497.html http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,48676,00.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001/11/28/online-porn-law.htm - - - - - - - - The Google attack engine Some clever empiricist appears to have been abusing Google to attack Web servers, switches and routers in a novel way, by crafting search terms to include known exploits. Such a search will occasionally yield active Web pages used by administrators. On top of that, a number of them have already been cached. It's reasonable to surmise that a hacker has been using Google not merely to search for vulnerabilities, but as a proxy to hide behind while executing attacks. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23069.html - - - - - - - - A Dark Side to the FBI's Magic Lantern The agency may be developing data-tracking software that can be slipped into a computer without warning -- or a search warrant. The Web has been abuzz recently with rumors of a new tool in the FBI's cyberarsenal. http://businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/nov2001/nf20011127_5011.htm - - - - - - - - Police use face-mapping tools to identify abuse victims Sophisticated face-mapping software has been developed to identify children depicted in online paedophilic images. The National Crime Squad (NCS) has confirmed that it will be using sophisticated facial-mapping software to identify the children depicted in 60,000 pornographic images obtained through dawn raids on suspected Internet paedophiles. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2100001,00.html - - - - - - - - Trojans top 2001 computer virus list Viruses that hand over control of a computer to a hacker have dominated the Internet in the past year and will become even more pervasive in coming years, computer security executives said Tuesday. So-called Trojan horse computer viruses enter a personal computer through an innocuous email or other means, giving control to a remote person, who can then track keyboard entries and credit card numbers. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/051308.htm - - - - - - - - Interview with Bob Weaver, USSS - NYC Electronic Crimes TF From the rubble of the twin towers, the Electronic Crimes Task Force chief rededicates himself to "serving the servers." The events U.S. Secret Service agent Bob Weaver witnessed from his office in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 rekindled his patriotism, devotion to public service and dedication to his job-- protecting cyberspace. He knows the mission of his Electronic Crimes Task Force takes on even greater importance as the U.S. wages war on terrorism. http://www.infosecuritymag.com/articles/november01/people_weaver.shtml - - - - - - - - Cyber terrorism is 'fantasy' Security experts have labelled cyber terrorism as "fantasy" and called the FBI "ill-advised" for raising unnecessary concerns about viruses. Following Osama bin Laden's attack on the US, Richard Clarke, cyberspace security adviser to the White House, described the perceived threat to America from viruses and hacking as a "digital Pearl Harbor". But no evidence has so far been produced to suggest that "rogue nations and terrorists" are waging an information war against the West. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127169 - - - - - - - - Industry responds to GovNet proposal The General Services Administration is forming a team to evaluate industry responses to a proposal for a secure intranet for federal agencies. Richard Clarke, the president’s cybersecurity adviser, proposed the network and the GSA issued a request for information in October. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17552-1.html - - - - - - - - Chinese government of two minds on Net access When the Chinese government announced recently that it was shutting down more than 15,000 Internet cafes, it reinforced a widely held perception that China's rulers remain implacably hostile to the open nature of the Net. Like many instances of conventional wisdom, this one is incomplete. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/opinion/dgillmor/dg112801.htm - - - - - - - - ID Mouse Has Finger on Security Concerns The ID Mouse's sensor allows users to identify themselves not only to their PCs but also to Web-based environments and applications. With concerns about computer security running high, German electronics and technology giant Siemens believes it has a simple, mouse-based alternative to the PC passwords and log-in codes that are so easy for users to forget -- and in some cases, too easy for the wrong people to get their hands on. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/14993.html - - - - - - - - Nation's security efforts could revive high-tech industry The nation's preoccupation with security after this fall's terrorist attacks could help revive the hard-hit high technology industry, experts from top tech firms said Wednesday. From communications to data sharing to airport security, they expect to see a surge in sales as governments, businesses and individuals try to screen out or respond to terrorists without invading the rights of law-abiding citizens. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/075784.htm - - - - - - - - Instant messaging -- hackers like it, too A hacker named Methodic spotted a hole in America Online's instant messaging system, so he penned a program to crash the chat program of any AOL ``buddy'' he targeted. Luckily, Methodic wasn't a malicious hacker, and he settled for just proving a point: Instant messaging systems used by millions around the world are vulnerable to the same types of lightning attacks spread by e-mail causing billions of dollars in damages. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/085973.htm - - - - - - - - Softman v. Adobe: What it Means for the Rest of Us US Court says buyers can unbundle EULA-covered software. If you find yourself paying for bundled proprietary software and don't actually install it, you can legally resell it no matter what the End-User License Agreement (EULA) says. That's what Judge Dean D. Pregerson wrote in his "Order Re: Application For Preliminary Injunction" in the case of Softman v. Adobe. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5628 - - - - - - - - Why can't we stop the worms? Within the last few weeks, several worms have taken advantage of a single vulnerability in Internet Explorer to assault computers worldwide. It's a vulnerability that allows the worm's code to execute automatically on some computers. Instead of requiring a user to open an infected e-mail in Outlook and then actually click on the attached file to launch the program, these new worms work differently. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2827352,00.html - - - - - - - - Meet the future of Windows security exploits Buffer overflow bugs, for years the most prevalent type of security vulnerability, will become a thing of the past as crackers realise the potential of different ways to exploiting Windows machines. Sloppy programming practices (the root cause of buffer overflow vulnerabilities) give rise to security bugs where arbitrary and malicious code can be injected into a system, through a carefully crafted malformed data entry. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/23075.html - - - - - - - - Lawmaker Unveils 'www.911.gov' Proposal Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake Tuesday introduced legislation that would establish a centralized Web site for people to share tips on possible terrorist activity with law enforcement, which he said would be called www.911.gov . http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172489.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.