December 19, 2001 Computer virus could render a very unhappy New Year A newly discovered computer worm, sent under guise of a holiday greeting, has popped up in the United States and Europe and, if activated, could destroy personal computers, experts said Wednesday. The Reeezak worm enters a computer as an e-mail message in Microsoft Corp. Outlook with a subject line ``Happy New Year'' and an attachment -- ``Christmas.exe'' -- which a recipient may think is a Christmas card. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/086241.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2833821,00.html http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2833811,00.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2101289,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-8234048.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173111.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/675233.asp http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/12/19/reeezak.worm.idg/index.html - - - - - - - - eBay halts 'immoral' auction of woman A woman who tried to auction herself off on eBay has been kicked off the site for 'immoral' sales. Kay Hammond, a 24 year-old dotcom entrepreneur, was asked to remove the offer from the site when eBay executives decided that her plan to sell herself as an online bride was immoral. Bidding had reached £10m when the auction site pulled the plug. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127863 - - - - - - - - E-Mail Scam Sought To Defraud PayPal Customers Customers of online payment processor PayPal.com have helped to foil an e-mail scam disguised as a cheery holiday greeting from the company urging customers to "update" their account information. The message, which included a spoofed return address of service@paypal.com, directed PayPal users to visit a Web site to reenter their account information, including usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and billing data. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173120.html - - - - - - - - U.S. Court Sites Defaced By Brazilian Attacker Web sites operated by two U.S. district courts fell prey to vandals today, the latest in a series of attacks on the federal judiciary's Internet presence. An attacker replaced the home pages of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Georgia with a rambling message in Portugese about Americans. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173115.html - - - - - - - - ISP Software Piracy Case Ends In Finland The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the software industry's copyright protection group, says it has solved a copyright impasse with Finland's second-largest Internet service provider (ISP). The impasse centered around postings of serial numbers and other materials from legitimate software packages to Web sites hosted by the Jippii Group. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173114.html - - - - - - - - U.S. Expands Investigation Into Piracy of Software In a scene repeated at some of the nation's most prestigious universities over the last week, students and employees have found themselves face-to-face with federal law enforcement agents offering them a choice: Talk to us about thrill-seeking software piracy gangs or face a prison cell. (NY Times article - free registration required) http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/19/technology/19PIRA.html - - - - - - - - Warez groups wracked by FBI raids The informal community of Internet software pirates has been ripped apart by the recent international law-enforcement raids on many of its elite crackers, members of the shadowy scene said this week. "This is a bad hit for warez," one self-described 18-year-old programmer, who has been a member of the community for four years, wrote in an online chat with ZDNet News. "Right now, every scene is at a stand-still. Every one of them." http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5100883,00.html http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8233279.html? Warez raids: An Australian's account http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000024985,20262485,00.htm - - - - - - - - Australia pushes for e-mail interception New counter-terrorism measures pushed by a government "run out of control" will see more Australian agencies able to intercept e-mails for routine investigations, according to civil liberties group Electronic Frontiers of Australia (EFA). In a review of Australia’s ability to meet the challenges of “the new terrorist environment,” a raft of proposals, including amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment Act 1979, were put forward at a Cabinet meeting today, according to the Department for the Attorney General. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2833525,00.html - - - - - - - - Home Office screens Internet paedophile warning ads Kids are to be warned of the dangers of the online world before every PG movie next year Hard-hitting advertisements calling for children to wise up to the dangers of Internet paedophiles were screened for the first time on Wednesday morning. The safety messages, which depict an actor posing as a paedophile, will be aired at cinemas, on commercial radio stations and in teen magazines early in the new year. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2101272,00.html - - - - - - - - Fight against child abuse goes high-tech Per-Eric Astrom spends his days hunched over a computer in his tiny Stockholm office, measuring out the hours with the click of a mouse. In this way he busted Sweden's biggest child pornography ring. http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/12/19/children.sex.internet.reut/index.html - - - - - - - - Nation unprepared for cyberwar, experts say The United States is unprepared to defend itself against a serious cyberattack, according to a senior official at the National Security Agency. Speaking Tuesday at a homeland security conference in Washington sponsored by Market*Access International Inc., Michael Jacobs, the NSA’s director of information assurance, painted a grim picture of a nation made increasingly vulnerable by its reliance on high technology. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1201/121901j1.htm - - - - - - - - Cybersecurity Think Tank Formed In NJ The state of New Jersey has sponsored the creation of a new think tank that will study electronic security and attempt to devise technologies aimed at preventing malicious hacker attacks. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/173117.html - - - - - - - - Experts urge more progress on homeland defense Although government and the private sector have sought to improve coordination since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government needs to do more to harness necessary technology and human capabilities to prevent future attacks, experts said Tuesday. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1201/121901td1.htm - - - - - - - - Warfighting Integration Post Created The Air Force has created a new position that will work with the service's chief information officer to modernize and integrate the Air Force's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems. Speaking at a Dec. 18 press conference at the Pentagon, Air Force Secretary James Roche announced the formation of a new deputy chief of staff for warfighting integration. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/1217/web-afhq-12-19-01.asp Army HQ changes affect IT Army Secretary Thomas White announced details of the Army headquarters' reorganization plans, including measures that will affect the management of information technology systems. Speaking at a Pentagon press conference Dec. 18, White said the chief information officer's office would establish the Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM) to provide management for the Army's information technology and networks. http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2001/1217/web-calif-12-19-01.asp - - - - - - - - Store tries to shut very cross dresser protest site A lorry driver fired for wearing women's clothes away from work is firing back with a web site attacking his former employer, Winn-Dixie Stores. The US supermarket chain is seeking to shut it down. Peter Oiler, the trannie trucker who worked for the company for 21 years, is the figurehead of ShameOnWinnDixie.com, a web site supported and maintained by American Civil Liberties Union activists. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23451.html - - - - - - - - Seven more companies join Liberty Alliance Project Seven more companies have become founding members of a Sun Microsystems-led effort to develop an alternative to Microsoft Corp.'s network identity system. American Express, AOL Time Warner, France Telecom, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard Co., MasterCard International and a major bank will join Sun and other companies in overseeing the Liberty Alliance Project, officials said Wednesday. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/076358.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23464.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/015357.htm http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5100870,00.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2101228,00.html - - - - - - - - Sony, Vivendi launch subscription-based online music service A second online music service backed by major record labels plans to launch Wednesday, allowing users to listen to and store tracks from a broad catalogue of music. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/197730p-1919127c.html - - - - - - - - CA Judicial Council OKs rules for access to e-court records. The California Judicial Council on Tuesday approved new rules that will govern access to electronic court records, adopting an approach that could make it easier to obtain court documents, but will depend greatly on how trial courts across the state interpret the policy. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/access121901.htm Illinois creates justice IT integration board http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/17653-1.html County Sets E-filing Foundation http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2001/1217/web-calif-12-19-01.asp - - - - - - - - Philips working on euro note chip security Dutch electronics giant Philips is taking part in a major project to embed microchips in euro notes in an attempt to foil counterfeiters, an industry source said on Wednesday. Philips' German rival Infineon was also reported to be involved. http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/010017.htm - - - - - - - - Steganography, Next Generation Steganography, the science of burying secret messages within something innocuous, has endured bad publicity recently, with unsubstantiated rumors of missives from Osama bin Laden hidden in images on websites. But the good guys can play, too. A new steganography-based technique hides barcodes inside pictures and could help create forgery proof identity documents. http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,49213,00.html - - - - - - - - Bin Laden's messages could be hiding in plain sight Now we have to worry about steganography. That's right: steganography. No, it's not the ancient art of writing on a stegosaurus. It's a way to conceal a coded message inside an innocuous-looking photograph, document or other bit of media. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ccarch/2001/12/19/maney.htm - - - - - - - - Common sense can help you cope with spam If you've noticed more spam lately, perhaps it's not your imagination. According to a recent report by Forrester Research, e-mail advertising — which often arrives as unwanted messages, or spam — is expected to nearly triple this year despite a soft market for other forms of online advertising. http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/ccarch/2001/12/19/yaukey.htm - - - - - - - - Women fail safe text test Three out of five mobile users have sent messages they regret when they sober up. And women are worse offenders than men. According to survey by mobile services firm Zed, the female admitted to "rude" texting, sending confidential messages to the wrong person and SMSing their ex-boyfriends when under the influence. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/23446.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.