January 4, 2002
US Army Web Site Goes Dark In Asia-Pacific Region
The main U.S. Army Web site is unreachable
for many Web surfers in the Asia-Pacific
region, according to user reports and network
test results. Web surfers in Taiwan and New
Zealand have reported they are unable to reach
the site (http://www.army.mil ). Tests conducted
today using network trace tools from Internet
addresses in other Asian countries, including
India, Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong produced
similar results. Attempts to access the Army
site from Internet addresses in the U.S. were
successful.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173391.html
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India Shuts Down Net Access In Kashmir, Says Pakistan
The Pakistan government claims India has shut
down local Internet access in the troubled
region of Kashmir and is policing Internet
cafes in an effort to restrict communications
between Pakistan and Kashmir. Pakistan's long
standing feud with neighbor India has escalated
in the past month after India blamed an attack
on the Indian parliament on Pakistan-based
Kashmiri separatist groups.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173373.html
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Nvidia settles Dutch hacking case
Hackers allegedly broke through chip
designer's security and posed as employees to
gain confidential information. Graphics chip
designer Nvidia has settled a case with two
people who it said broke through its security
systems and published confidential company
documents on the Web. In 2001, Nvidia brought
an enforcement action against two alleged
hackers in the Netherlands, ages 19 and 21.
They had posted confidential product information,
intellectual property and information about
unannounced products on computer fan site
M3DZone, according to an Nvidia representative.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2101988,00.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/681639.asp
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/23551.html
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Appeals court upholds California's anit-spam law
In a victory for anyone annoyed by the
distasteful ``spam'' that clogs e-mail boxes,
an appellate court has upheld California's
tough 1998 law regulating unwanted commercial
messages. A state appeals court ruled earlier
this week that California can require Internet
``spammers'' to identify their e-mails as
advertisements. The court also said they must
provide ways for recipients to get off their
mailing lists.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/tech/071931.htm
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1722610l.htm
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173401.html
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/01/04/antispam.law.reut/index.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/01/04/MN228257.DTL
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/01/04/calif-spam-law.htm
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Utah student defends handling of AIM security flaw
Brushing back criticism, a 19-year-old Utah
college student said on Thursday he revealed
a security flaw in AOL's popular instant
messaging service because when he tried to
tell the media giant privately, he was ignored.
``We never expected it to get this much
attention,'' said Matt Conover, the college
student and one of the founders of w00w00,
which bills itself as the world's largest
non-profit security team with more than
30 members in about nine countries.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1722009l.htm
Was AIM hole report ignored?
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2836272,00.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8358574.html
Gartner: AIM shows a weak defense
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2836287,00.html
AIM Hole Highlights IM Weakness
http://www.techtv.com/news/hackingandsecurity/story/0,24195,3366733,00.html
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Badtrans Victim Database Goes Commercial
Rudy Rucker last month refused to turn over to
the FBI his massive database of users infected
by a recent Internet worm. But the listing has
lately become a treasure-trove for organizations
trying to root out Badtrans.B from their networks.
According to Rucker, operator of Monkeybrains.net,
a small San Francisco-based Internet service
provider, companies including Prudential, Motorola,
ETrade, British Petroleum and 3M have paid a small
fee to receive a list of their customers and
employees culled from the database of more than
300,000 accounts infected by Badtrans.B.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173402.html
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Trojan horse conveys IE users to porn
A new Trojan horse is redirecting Internet
users to pornographic Web sites by exploiting
an old vulnerability in Microsoft Internet
Explorer (IE). The JS/Seeker-E script can
arrive by e-mail or can be embedded into a
Web page: When a user opens the e-mail or
clicks on the Web page, the script is activated.
Once activated, Seeker attempts to change the
user's IE settings, such as the start page
and search settings, and will redirect the
infected user to a porn site.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101254,00.html
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2102008,00.html
Microsoft alerts Passport users to patch IE
Microsoft is pressing .Net Passport users
to install a patch for some versions of its
browser nearly two months after it fixed a
security flaw that threatens their personal
data online. The Redmond, Wash.-based company
has sent millions of e-mail notifications in
the past month to Passport users, urging them
to visit a special Web page to determine whether
Internet Explorer needs a security upgrade.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8355007.html
http://securitycheck.passport.com/default.asp
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2836270,00.html
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2102007,00.html
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127984
Security hole hits patched Internet Explorer
A patch issued by Microsoft for IE 5.5 and 6.0
closed one security hole in the browsers, but
appears to have opened another one that is just
as dangerous. A new vulnerability has been
detected in Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE)
that could allow the execution of malicious code
on systems running IE 5.5 and 6.0 of the browser.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2101972,00.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/zd/zd4.htm
Ditch IE - veteran bug hunter
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/23557.html
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Rare Linux virus on the loose
It has emerged in the last week that another
of those rare Linux viruses may be on the
loose. And this one has strong similarities
to October's Remote Shell Trojan (RST) that
was largely dismissed by the Linux community.
In a posting to a security mailing list at
the end of December, SecurityFocus brought
'RST.b' to the internet community's attention.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127965
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BSA offers amnesty to software pirates
The Business Software Alliance, the main
software trade group enforcing license and
copyright restrictions, is offering a limited
amnesty program this month to businesses using
illegally copied software. Under the program,
businesses can conduct a software audit and
begin paying proper license fees for all
applications in use without the threat of
penalties for past use, which can run as high
as $150,000 for each incident of copyright
infringement.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5101229,00.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-8354860.html
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Legal Fight Costs Federal Agencies Web Access, E-Mail
A protracted legal battle over mismanagement
and poor computer security has left the U.S.
Department of Interior, the National Park
Service and a slew of other agencies without
e-mail and Internet access for nearly a month.
Now, the hardship of living in the technological
dark ages is beginning to take its toll.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173393.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/01/04/interior-dept-offline.htm
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New York Deletes Sensitive Information from Web
Internet security experts say removing information
from the Web, while not a perfect solution, can
control who has access to it. An unprecedented
state order to remove sensitive information
from government-run Web sites has prompted 10
agencies to delete a range of content, including
the addresses of nuclear power plants and driving
directions to New York's two emergency stockpiles.
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/15594.html
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Feds take minimal role in patching holes in cyberspace
In the early 1800s, Prussian strategist Carl
von Clausewitz wrote that even the simplest
things are difficult to accomplish during war.
Now, almost two centuries later, he would
probably laugh at the truth of his statement:
The United States has computers in just about
every office and in most homes, yet even the
simplest computer-security defense plans are
proving difficult to implement.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0102/010402nj1.htm
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UK threatened by web fraud
City lawyers have warned that financial markets
in the UK may be at risk from internet fraud
following web based abuse in the US. The warnings
follow reports that the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) has launched a lawsuit against
24-year old Ned Sneiderman for allegedly posting
a false press release on the internet last October.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1127981
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UK Mobile Phone Industry grapples with Crime wave
Growing UK mobile phone use in the past few
years has been matched by a surge in phone
thefts, as the industry struggles to stay
ahead of criminals who can reconfigure handsets
and sell them on international markets. Experts
said on Friday that cellphone thieves range from
the professional with a ready market, normally
outside the UK, to the street robber who just
grabs the phone and runs away.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1722505l.htm
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-8361849.html
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Rise of Net 'Borders' Prompts Fears for Web's Future
It is the modern-day equivalent of a border
sentry. When visitors try to enter UKBetting.com,
a computer program checks their identification
to determine where they're dialing in from. Most
people are waved on through. Those from the
United States, China, Italy and other countries
where gambling laws are muddy, however, are
flashed a sign in red letters that says "ACCESS
DENIED" and are locked out of the Web site.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173389.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/681900.asp
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Experts Foresee More Mass-Mailing Viruses In 2002
The forecast this year calls for more mass-mailing
viruses that shut down corporate servers and more
Trojan code that opens up backdoors into computer
systems, according to security experts. The forecast
this year calls for more mass-mailing viruses that
shut down corporate servers and more Trojan code
that opens up backdoors into computer systems,
according to security experts.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cmp/20020103/tc/inw20020103s0004_1.html
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Tenacity Carries The Cybersecurity Message
When national cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke
talks about the danger that cyberterrorists pose
to the nation's computer systems, it's clear
he believes a major attack is simply a matter
of when. He warns of a "digital Pearl Harbor,"
in which an attack on one portion of the nation's
IT infrastructure would have a domino effect on
other systems, halting operations at hospitals,
airports, and utilities. "Our enemies know our
technology as well as we do, and our enemies will
use our technology against us," he says. "Our
enemies will find the fissures and the seams
in our high-tech economy."
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011221S0014
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Information Operations
New course explores using information as a weapon
Recent events both in America and abroad have shown
that the nature of warfare is changing. Information
has become both a weapon and battlefield. The Army
has developed a new Functional Area - Information
Operations - to train soldier to fight and win on
this new battlefield. The TRADOC Commander saw a
need to increase the Army's IO capability and
directed that IO courses be set up immediately
to support the ongoing military operations.
http://www.ftleavenworthlamp.com/display/inn_news/news3.txt
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Sept. 11 myths abound online
Tales embellished as they speed across the Web.
The way most people heard it, a friend of
a friend received a letter on Sept. 10 from
a former boyfriend, an Afghan, begging her
not to fly on commercial airplanes on Sept.
11. The story was passed around in early
October because the boyfriend had also
warned her not to visit malls on Halloween.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/681820.asp
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Going fast, cybersquatters and their dotcom booty
Cybersquatting, the speculative registration
of Internet domain names which turned into a
cottage industry at the height of the dotcom
boom, appears to be dying as demand wanes for
names, industry experts say. A study by British
Internet research firm Netcraft this week
provided the latest supporting evidence.
According to Netcraft, the number of active
Web sites shrank by 182,142 in November to
reach 36.28 million in December -- only the
second monthly decline in the past six years
as more Web site registration contracts lapsed
in that period than new ones were created.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/reuters_wire/1722225l.htm
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A Deadly Collection of Information
Killer Paid Online Data Broker for Material
Obtained Through Trickery. On the last day of her
life, Amy Boyer could not have known a killer was
waiting for her on her way home from work. But her
stalker knew exactly where she would be. As the 20
year-old dental assistant slipped into her Honda
Accord on a quiet road just off Main Street here
one day in October 1999, the obsessed young man
pulled up, shot her repeatedly and then turned
the gun on himself.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59329-2002Jan3.html
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/173387.html
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Using IPSec in Windows 2000 and XP: Part Three
This is the third and final installment in a
series devoted to exploring IPSec in Win2K and
XP. The first installment of this series offered
a brief overview of IPSec, as well as a look at
the structure and interface for IPSec in Windows
and a look at the two different modes of IPSec
authentication methods for IKE in Windows. The
second installment discussed Security Associations,
main mode authentication and IKE, Quick Mode
Authentication Headers and ESP, and some of the
tools available in 2000 and XP. This article
will look at the integration of IPSec policies
into Active Directory, attacks on IPSec and
other security concerns, as well as a few
properties of IPSec.
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1528
Using IPSec in Windows 2000 and XP, Part One
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1519
Using IPSec in Windows and XP, Part Two
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1526
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Study: Face-recognition system flawed, a failure
A network of surveillance cameras tied to face-
recognition technology run by the police in this
city is flawed and has not led to any arrests,
according to an ACLU study released Thursday.
Tampa was the first city in the United States
to install the permanent camera surveillance
system along public streets. Thirty-six cameras
were deployed June 29 in Ybor City, the city's
nightlife district.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/01/04/police-cameras.htm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/23559.html
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