April 24, 2002 Police target chatrooms in latest paedophile arrests A six-month investigation ends in a large number of arrests across the UK. British police arrested more than 70 people and seized computer equipment on Wednesday morning in what is thought to be the UK's largest-ever crackdown on Internet paedophiles. Thirty-four police forces across the UK took part in the operation, which was code-named Magenta. It followed a six-month joint investigation involving officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary and Greater Manchester Police. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2109022,00.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1131204 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_574156.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1949000/1949092.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-1685682,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1948000/1948296.stm http://www.reuters.co.uk/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=ZUX4NXFAEZVS2CRBAE0CFFAKEEATGIWD?type=topnews&StoryID=871714 - - - - - - - - Hacker who led authorities to judge facing sex charges identified Attorneys for an Orange County judge accused of possessing child pornography said they have identified a hacker believed to have accessed their client's computer. After receiving a tip from the computer hacker, federal agents said they discovered more than 1,500 pornographic images taken from Web sites on computers belonging to Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline. His lawyers now want to learn more information about the hacker, whose credibility they have attacked in court documents. http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3129060.htm - - - - - - - - Penalty Upheld For Man Who Scammed Ebay Bidders Using special software to harvest the contact information of Ebay shoppers amounts to mass marketing, a U.S. appeals court had ruled in upholding hefty fines and jail time for a man who used the technique in swindling dozens of the online auction site's subscribers. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176112.html - - - - - - - - U.S. shuts down 'spam' scam that promised prizes The U.S. government said Wednesday it had shut down an e-mail scam that promised free video- game consoles but instead delivered a connection to a pornographic Web site that charged $3.99 per minute. The case is one of the most egregious examples yet of the deceptive junk e-mail known as ``spam,'' the Federal Trade Commission said. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3129291.htm http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-890787.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/742992.asp http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/04/24/spam.reut/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/04/24/spam-scam.htm http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/377530p-3024188c.html - - - - - - - - Police launch appeal over stolen PCs Kit was meant for London teenagers. The Metropolitan Police is appealing for help in locating PS35,000 worth of stolen computer kit intended for London youngsters. A total of 12 Dell PCs, along with flat-screen plasma monitors and accessories, were to be given to teenagers as a reward for good behaviour under the Karrot Scheme. Launched last December, the scheme is an incentive run across the London borough of Southwark. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1131223 - - - - - - - - County can limit children's access to video games A federal judge said local governments should be able to limit children's access to violent or sexually explicit video games, saying they're not constitutionally protected forms of speech. Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh, in a ruling issued Friday, rejected a request by a video game industry group to throw out a St. Louis County ordinance regulating access to arcade and home video games. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3131335.htm - - - - - - - - 'Klez' variant strikes unprotected PC users More than a week after it first started spreading, the latest variant of the Klez worm continues to infect PC users that haven't taken steps to protect themselves. While the number of computers infected by the Klez.H variant falls short of such epidemics as the LoveLetter worm, the virus has still shown surprising resiliency, said Steve Trilling, director of antivirus software maker Symantec's security response team. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-891218.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-891030.html http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,52055,00.html Why the Klez worm just won't go away http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-890337.html - - - - - - - - Wiretap Bill Skirts High Court Ruling On Child Porn Law A week after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down portions of a law designed to combat child pornography, House lawmakers are pushing a bill that would make it easier for law enforcement authorities to obtain wiretaps on suspected child pornographers. The House Judiciary Committee approved the "Child Sex Crimes Wiretapping Act," saying the relaxed eavesdropping statutes would help snare sexual predators who might be emboldened by the high court's decision. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176113.html - - - - - - - - Pa.'s Online Kiddie Porn Law Unconstitutional A new Pennsylvania law that requires Internet service providers (ISPs) to deny state residents access to Web sites that contain child pornography will not survive a legal challenge, a constitutional law expert said today. Under terms of the law, ISPs must block access to child porn within five days of receiving notice from the state attorney general's office that such material is accessible to Internet users in Pennsylvania. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3131335.htm - - - - - - - - Courts OKs Seizure Of Net Gambling Cash Destined For U.K. A federal appeals court has upheld what the U.S. government says is its right to seize revenue that was on its way to an online gambling outfit in the U.K. where the betting was entirely legal. In a decision filed last week, a three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit's Court of Appeals said U.S. gambling laws could be used to wrest more than $1.3 million from an operation based on the Isle of Man because bets by American gamblers touched down at a New Jersey company that served as a relay for funds transfers by wire. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176123.html - - - - - - - - EC Adopts Cybercrime Penalties Proposal The European Commission (EC) has approved a proposal that would harmonize definitions and penalties for a range of computer crimes across all EU member states. A European Council Framework Decision on "attacks against information systems" will address cybercrimes such as hacking, denial-of-service attacks and the release of destructive computer viruses. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176099.html - - - - - - - - Third of UK businesses at DDoS risk Flood of attacks will cost PS54m this year alone. A third of all UK businesses will be hit by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack during 2002, resulting in PS54m in lost revenue. DDoS attacks have long been a headache for online firms because their disparate nature makes them almost impossible to defend against. Estimates by security firm Webscreen Technologies suggest that such attacks could cost the UK more than PS270m by 2005. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1131214 U.K. Counts Cost Of Computer Crime Information security breaches are costing U.K. businesses around $14.5 billion a year, equivalent to every worker in the country taking an extra day's holiday, according to the latest figures from the U.K. government. The Department of Trade and Industry's Information Security Breaches Survey 2002, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), says that 44 percent of U.K. businesses have suffered at least one malicious security breach in the last year. The average cost of a serious attack is $43,500 with some companies reporting breaches costing $725,000. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176119.html - - - - - - - - Virus writers outpace traditional AV Email viruses infecting 10 per cent of users and are costing business millions of pounds each year - even though AV software is used by 95 per cent of companies. That's the main finding of a study by analysts Hurwitz Group, sponsored by managed security outfit MessageLabs. This concludes that traditional anti-virus software development is failing to keep pace with email-borne infections. Managed services from ISPs which scan email for viruses offer lower total cost of ownership for AV protection, the Hurwitz report concludes. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/24996.html - - - - - - - - Viruses with more bark than bite Computer security specialists say better safe than sorry. The market for computer security is booming as PC users become more aware of the need to protect themselves from worms and viruses. "Code Red" hit the headlines in July last year, with dire predictions that the PC worm would cripple the Internet. Yet in the end, Code Red didn't even make the year's virus Top 10. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/04/24/virus.hype/index.html - - - - - - - - Using tax dollars to combat piracy The Recording Industry Association of America is calling for additional federal funding to combat the ongoing wave of piracy, saying that the number of arrests and convictions for copyright crimes has skyrocketed over the course of a year. In a congressional hearing Tuesday before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, the RIAA requested additional funds for federal anti-piracy law enforcement efforts and is pushing for a renewed agenda on protecting intellectual property. The RIAA, which did not request a specific amount, said the additional funds are needed for investigations and cases. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-891521.html http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176121.html - - - - - - - - Europeans Roll Out PKI For Niche Applications Europe is seeing a slow but genuine uptake of digital certificates. But instead of being used as an all-purpose tool, digital certificates are being deployed for niche applications, especially secure document delivery. Such are the views of Chris Potter, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers who spoke at the Infosecurity exhibition in London. "Four years ago," Potter said, "people were very confident that digital certificates would come in very rapidly and solve all the ills of e-commerce. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176107.html - - - - - - - - GSA is likely to advocate smart-card security The General Services Administration tomorrow likely will recommend that federal buildings be secured with smart-card technology. A GSA official will testify at a House Government Reform subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy hearing to explain what commercial technologies are available to secure federal buildings. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/18445-1.html Smart card allies advance http://www.msnbc.com/news/743002.asp - - - - - - - - IE-6 privacy solution backfires It may seem ironic, but privacy functionality in IE6 makes it possible to launch several attacks against the browser, and against Outlook and Outlook Express, security researcher Thor Larholm has discovered. "The privacy features added in IE6 to help protect a user's privacy by giving them direct control over cookie management allows any site to read any other site's cookies, in effect removing all privacy. Further, this hole extends to other protocols, allowing you to execute arbitrary commands on the user's machine as well as take over MSN Messenger," Larholm told us. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24997.html - - - - - - - - Privacy bill focuses on agency regulations Citing the need to restore balance to laws impacting the privacy of Americans, several House lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled legislation that would require federal agencies to disclose the privacy implications of their proposed regulations. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., introduced the unnumbered measure, which would require all agencies to include the privacy implications of regulations when posting them for public comment. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0402/042402td1.htm - - - - - - - - Ohio Student Database Sparks Privacy Questions Privacy concerns have been raised about Ohio's new student database that seeks to include a student's eye color, mother's maiden name and Social Security number. The Ohio Department of Education has asked public school districts for 43 pieces of data on each of the state's 1.8 million students for the system, called the statewide student identifier (SSID). http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176115.html - - - - - - - - Symantec to unveil new VelociRaptor firewalls Symantec Corp. will unveil three new models of its VelociRaptor firewall appliance line in early May, adding better performance and scalability, expanded protocol proxies and more to the devices. The firewalls will sport new support for redundant configurations to ensure high availability and load balancing, along with better performance and scalability, said Barry Cioe, senior director of product management at Cupertino, California, Symantec. http://www.idg.net/ic_851710_5055_1-2861.html - - - - - - - - Security exhibitors set up insecure WLANs Wireless networking insecurity was a key theme of this week's InfoSecurity show with a number of suppliers coming out with surveys on just how vulnerable world+dog is to drive by hackers. However a quick scout around the show yesterday revealed the problem is closer to home than most vendors would like to admit - half of the show's wireless LANs were wide open to attack. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/25000.html - - - - - - - - NetScreen puts heat on software firewall vendors NetScreen has boosted the speed and added a new customised ASIC to its line of hardware firewall and VPN appliances. The NetScreen- 5000 Series, based on its GigaScreen-II ASIC, boasts firewall private network (VPN) speeds of up to 6 Gbps. The NetScreen-5000 Series comprises the NetScreen-5200, which was introduced in Europe at the Info-Security show yesterday, and the NetScreen-5400, which will be available in Q3. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/24998.html - - - - - - - - Justice Department slow to get anti-terrorism funding to states In the last three fiscal years, only 23 of 56 states and other jurisdictions have received federal funds from a Justice Department program to supply biological, chemical and radiological response equipment for emergency officials. Only $68 million of the $145 million budgeted for the last two fiscal years and none of the $122 million set aside for fiscal 2002 has been disbursed, leaving $199 million in federal coffers, officials said. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0402/042402gsn1.htm - - - - - - - - Lawmakers Move To Block Spectrum Auction A bevy of influential lawmakers today introduced legislation to block the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) planned auction of a valuable swath of airwave spectrum. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-La., and Ranking Democrat John Dingell, D-Mich., joined other high-ranking committee members to introduce legislation that would postpone - indefinitely - the planned airwave auction. http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/176118.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.