March 14, 2002 'Dear Abby' Letter Prompts Arrest A man who wrote to "Dear Abby" for advice on how to handle his fantasies about having sex with girls was charged Wednesday with possessing child pornography after the columnist turned him in, authorities say. Paul Weiser, 28, was charged with three counts of possession of child pornography. He was ordered release on $10,000 bail on the condition he avoid computers and contact with anyone under 18. Police said 40 pornographic photographs of children were found in his computer after his arrest Monday. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-dear-abby-arrest0313mar13.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-03-14/News_and_Views/Crime_File/a-144326.asp - - - - - - - - Former cadet at VMI found guilty on charges for child pornography Cameron Russell Rex, 21, of Illinois faces up to 20 years. Former cadet at VMI found guilty on charges for child pornography. Rex had configured a computer to allow other computer users to upload pictures and movie files and download files as well. A former Virginia Military Institute cadet who used the college's computer network to trade child pornography is facing up to 20years in prison. Cameron Russell Rex, 21, of Evanston, Ill., was convicted Monday of two counts of possession of child pornography with intent to distribute. Each count carries a possible sentence of one to 10 years. Six other counts were not prosecuted. http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story127369.html - - - - - - - - Japanese worm on Net rampage A fast-spreading e-mail worm, possibly from Japan, is encircling the globe and flooding e-mail servers with excessive messages. Fbound (w32.fbound.c@mm, also known as Zircon.C, DotJayPee, Fbound.b) is 12,288 bytes in length, and, unlike other recent worms, does not install itself on the infected machine but instead runs from memory. Mac and Linux users are not affected. Fbound is capable of sending large amounts of e-mail but does not damage or delete files on the infected computer. Because of the increasing reports of this worm around the world, Fbound currently ranks a 6 on the ZDNet Virus Meter. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-860094.html http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-859803.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-860409.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175219.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1130112 http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cw1.htm - - - - - - - - Hacker's evidence can be used in porn case The cyber-vigilante who stole child pornography from a Chesterfield County [Va.] man's computer acted on his own, and "the government is not required to look a gift horse in the mouth," a federal judge ruled yesterday. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams means federal prosecutors can use the evidence, including more than 200 images, that they seized from William Adderson Jarrett's computer in the case against him. http://www.timesdispatch.com/vametro/MGBDJ190SYC.html - - - - - - - - White-Collar Criminals -- Enough Is Enough They lie they cheat they steal and they've been getting away with it for too long. Arthur Levitt, the tough-talking former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, spoke of a "multi-tude of villains." Red-faced Congressmen hurled insults, going so far as to compare the figures at the center of the Enron debacle unfavorably to carnival hucksters. The Treasury Secretary presided over a high-level working group aimed at punishing negligent CEOs and directors. Legislators from all but a handful of states threatened to sue the firm that bollixed up the auditing, Arthur Andersen. There was as much handwringing, proselytizing, and bloviating in front of the witness stand as there was shredding behind it. http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=206659 Schemers and Scams: A Brief History of Bad Business http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=206661 - - - - - - - - D.I.R.T. Spyware Exposed on Web Software marketed as a computer surveillance tool for law enforcement investigators has its secrets laid bare on an anonymous Web site. A closely-held software package designed to allow law enforcement agencies to secretly monitor a suspect's computer turned up on an anonymous Web site in the Netherlands Wednesday, along with user manuals, financial information, contracts and invoices apparently stolen from the company that makes the surveillance tool. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/354 Law-enforcement DIRT Trojan released http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/24433.html - - - - - - - - Qwest CEO to head security group Joe Nacchio, chief executive of Qwest Communications International, was appointed chairman of President George W. Bush's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), the company announced Wednesday. Nacchio was tapped in 2001 as vice chairman of NSTAC, which is a group of 30 telecom and technology CEOs that provides advice and analysis to the president and other government officials on matters of national security such as how to safeguard the nation's telecom infrastructure and protect critical information. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1106-859734.html - - - - - - - - Secret Service Combats Cybercrime The Secret Service was mandated by the USA Patriot Act to establish a nationwide network of Electronic Crimes Task Forces, modeled after the Secret Service's New York electronic crimes office. So far, eight have been implemented. The task forces mark a new direction for the Secret Service. That direction involves a more inclusive approach to crime fighting that invites industry and academia to join law enforcement in attacking cybercrime. The experts on these task forces have already worked on some high-profile cases. http://www.techtv.com/news/security/story/0,24195,3376038,00.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft-DOJ: A crime-fighting team? Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, whose company has been at odds with the U.S. government over antitrust violations, said on Thursday it was working closely with the Justice Department to fight cybercrime. "As we think about private and public partnerships, we have to say that this (partnership) is key," said Ballmer, as he outlined the dangers of cybercrime to the European Policy Center, a private think-tank. "We've worked very closely, for example, with the Department of Justice in the United States to get additional funding for FBI efforts to target cybercrime," he said. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-859899.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/723989.asp - - - - - - - - VA still struggling with security The Department of Veterans Affairs has taken major strides toward creating a modern infrastructure but still has a long way to go to protect its computer systems and sensitive data about veterans, according to a General Accounting Office report released March 13. Listing both the good marks and the failing ones, GAO said the agency has benefited from VA Secretary Anthony Principi's commitment to strengthening information technology. It has taken key steps to lay the groundwork for enterprise architecture a blueprint for its information systems and has worked hard to strengthen information security management."However, VA continues to report pervasive and serious information security weaknesses," the report said. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0311/web-va-03-14-02.asp - - - - - - - - Morpheus lures artists with no-copy plan StreamCast Networks, the creator of the popular Morpheus file-trading software, is set to unveil a plan Thursday that it hopes will help it become a more legitimate means of music distribution. The company is adding new digital rights management, or anti-copying technology, to its set of software and services. It's calling for independent artists to distribute their work through the Morpheus file trading network, using this technology to help solicit payment for their work and guard against piracy. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-859994.html http://news.com.com/2100-1023-860022.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/723930.asp - - - - - - - - Piracy, or Innovation? It's Hollywood vs. High Tech Leaders of two of the nation's most prominent industries, entertainment and technology, have begun publicly sniping at each other over how to stop consumers from illegally copying digital movies, music and television programs. The feud grows out of Hollywood's frustration with the illicit flow of copyrighted works over the Internet. Despite courtroom victories against Napster and others deemed to contribute to Internet piracy, millions of people continue to download free digital copies of everything from Jennifer Lopez's latest hit single to the Disney movie "Monsters, Inc." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/14/technology/14PROT.html?todaysheadlines Senate Won't Act On Digital Content Bill - Lawmaker http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175222.html Tech execs lash into piracy proposals http://news.com.com/2100-1023-860192.html - - - - - - - - Microsoft's borrowed code may pose risk A security flaw in open-source software used by Linux and Unix systems for compression may affect some Microsoft products that also use the code. As reported earlier this week by CNET News.com, a flaw in the zlib software-compression library could leave much of the systems based on the open-source operating system Linux open to attack. On Thursday, researchers reported that at least nine of Microsoft's major applications--including Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, DirectX, Messenger and Front Page--appear to incorporate borrowed code from the compression library and could be vulnerable to a similar attack. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-860328.html - - - - - - - - Check Point launches firewall for PDAs Israeli Internet security company Check Point Software on Thursday launched a line of new products that will protect wireless Web surfing using handheld computers. The company said in a statement that it worked on its new line, which includes a personal firewall, with input from Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Computer and others. Check Point unveiled the line at the CeBit conference in Hannover, Germany. It said that the products provide security to personal digital assistants and handheld personal computers that are powered by Microsoft Windows. Initially, the products will support PDAs and handheld PCs made by Compaq and HP. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-859764.html - - - - - - - - Cable Modem Hacking Tricks Uncapped Online When his cable modem service seemed to slow almost to a crawl last spring, Matthew Hallacy did like most people and complained to technical support at his Internet service provider, AT&T Broadband. But after the sluggish performance persisted for weeks, Hallacy, a Minnesota-based software engineer and networking expert, decided to take matters into his own hands: he hacked his cable modem. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/353 http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175201.html - - - - - - - - Defending the Enterprise: The Antivirus War Companies increasingly are hedging their bets by using multiple virus scanners in an effort to be sure they are as thoroughly covered as possible. Over the past 18 months, enterprises have devoted more IT resources than ever before to antivirus protection in order to combat the blitz of viruses, worms and Trojan horses that terrorize their networks on a daily basis. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16763.html - - - - - - - - With security, you get what you pay for When it comes to security, you get what you pay for. Most consumers won't purchase a $50 electronic device without looking for an Underwriter's Laboratory sticker, yet they purchase software at a thousand times the price that they use for running their enterprises, with no consideration of product security mechanisms. Everyone wants to use the Internet to securely connect partners and customers directly to their systems, but in this environment, it's not just the technical security measures that are important, it's the confidence you can place in those measures. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-859767.html - - - - - - - - Is Spam Choking E-Commerce? Financial institutions stand to gain or lose about $60 billion worth of business in the next two years based on privacy concerns, Forrester's Clemmer said. To most online consumers, receiving unwanted e-mail marketing messages is just part of being online. Like offline junk mail, it is something people do not like but have learned to live with. But analysts say there is a price to pay for too much spam, and e-commerce may have to foot some of the bill. "Privacy continues to be something that consumers say is holding them back," Forrester analyst Christopher Kelley told the E-Commerce Times. "It's always one of the first answers to the question of why more people aren't online." http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16767.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 2000-2002, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.