June 7, 2002 Homeland Security Dept. Would Absorb NIPC The president's proposed new cabinet agency would take over cyber defense from the FBI. The FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) and several other key federal cyber security organizations would be subsumed by the new Department of Homeland Security, under the sweeping proposal announced by President Bush on Thursday to create the cabinet-level agency. The Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (CIAO), now part of the Commerce Department, the Pentagon's National Communication System (NCS), the Department of Energy's National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center and the GSA's Federal Computer Incident Response Center (FedCIRC) would also join the new department. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/469 Homeland security network proposed http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/fcw1.htm Do Dots Connect to Police State? http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,53037,00.html Tech's role uncertain in security agency http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-933950.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-933930.html New department could reshape federal data sharing http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/18916-1.html http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0603/web-bush-06-07-02.asp http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12806-2002Jun7.html Homeland plan will have massive effect on federal jobs, contracts http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/18915-1.html New department may help craft cybersecurity stragegy http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060702td1.htm - - - - - - - - High school hackers make the grade Students charged $5 a time to fix classmates' results. Two high school hackers have been caught running a racket where they charged $5 to change fellow pupils' exam grades. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that the scam was rumbled when a teacher noticed that a zero she had given a student had changed to 100 per cent. A quick check of other grades indicated that there had been similar tampering. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132421 http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_602783.html - - - - - - - - Shakira, World Cup front viruses One worm promises Latin star photos; another, photographs of Latin pop music star Shakira is making the rounds, antivirus experts say. The worm, which is a bit reminiscent of the Anna Kournikova virus, includes no new programming tricks. It was discovered May 26, and labeled a low-risk by researchers. But apparently the promise of Shakira pictures has been enough to convince some Internet users to drop their guard: on Friday, most researchers had raised the risk rating on Shakira, as infections were reported from around the globe. http://www.msnbc.com/news/763480.asp http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132429 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18137.html World Cup email leads to virus penalty http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2111509,00.html - - - - - - - - Hackers unlock key to Norway's history A Norwegian educational center for cultural preservation lost the password to a historical database cataloging 11,000 original books and manuscripts, but was able to recover it with help from the Web. E-mail messages from more than 100 good Samaritans flooded the Ivar Aasen Center for Language and Culture starting Thursday afternoon after the organization sought help from security experts in reopening one of its databases, said a message posted to the center's Web site on Friday. The correct password appears to have been found already. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-934060.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132422 - - - - - - - - Cheaters take profits out of online gaming Rick Cortese knew he was in a dicey neighborhood, so he made sure he locked his doors before he went to sleep. But crooks still managed to loot his home, sucking valuable possessions right through the walls. The theft happened in the virtual world of "Ultima Online," one of the first popular online role-playing games, but it was a headache nonetheless and an example of the kind of cheating likely to thwart game publishers as they try to push more customers online. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-933853.html http://news.com.com/2100-1040-933822.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/763396.asp - - - - - - - - Protecting your privacy A lot of people worry about their privacy when they go online - and they should. There are threats to your privacy when you're online, but they may be different from what you think. Yes, there is the possibility that a hacker could invade your computer, stealing credit card numbers, financial data and maybe even taking a peek at the digital photos on your machine. But, as bad as those hackers are, many Internet users have become their own worst enemy by unwittingly disclosing information. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/426834p-3409427c.html - - - - - - - - Web businesses, users both fail to protect privacy, analyst say Consumers are concerned about the privacy of personal information they submit online, but most have no clue how companies use and misuse that information, according to a new report by an Internet research firm. Nearly 70 percent of consumers worry about keeping their information private, but only 40 percent read privacy policies posted on business Web sites, a Jupiter Media Metrix survey said. But reading complex company statements, however, doesn't always clarify matters. Only 30 percent of consumers who take the time to read them say they are understandable. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/427583p-3414627c.html - - - - - - - - MS turns up heat on warezed WinXP copies The beta of Service Pack 1 for Windows XP has now shipped to testers and, as previously advertised, it declines to install if you're using a leaked WinXP licence key. But - again as previously advertised - it doesn't deactivate your installation, just stops you applying the service pack. But a sharp-eyed reader of Neowin.net has spotted what appears to be an escalation of the role of product activation. The privacy statement now says "To provide you with the appropriate list of updates, Windows Update must collect a certain amount of configuration information from your computer. http://www.theregus.com/content/4/25176.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/25629.html - - - - - - - - Security Hole Found in KaZaA File-Sharing Service Users of KaZaA, a popular Internet service for sharing music files, frequently expose personal files on their computers by misconfiguring the program, according to a study by two researchers at HP Labs. The study, which was published on Hewlett-Packard's Web site on Wednesday, reveals that the peer-to-peer programs, which are wildly popular for sharing music files, software and, increasingly, video files, can also pose a serious threat to computer privacy. KaZaA, a product of Sharman Networks, is currently the most widely used of the services. It is used by an average of two million people at any time. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/07/technology/07PRIV.html http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-933836.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2111500,00.html http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18136.html Gnat or Parasite? Angst Over Adware http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/06/technology/circuits/06ADWA.html - - - - - - - - Big-O unlocks spyware from AIM+ The creator of an add-on program for AOL Time Warner's Instant Messenger plans to eradicate a component that phones home after critics called the feature "spyware." The recent decision comes after some users of Big-O Software's AIM+ program --which adds chat logging, ad removal and other features to AIM--complained that the program violated their privacy by sending information about their online identity back to a Big-O server. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-933829.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2111526,00.html - - - - - - - - File-sharing sites try to go legit Popular P2P services seek more copyright content, revenues. As the recording industry turns up the legal heat on services that allow pirated music downloads, the popular peer-to-peer networks like Grokster and KaZaa are scrambling for ways to profit from the millions of Internet surfers who use their programs to download files. http://www.msnbc.com/news/762916.asp - - - - - - - - Red faces and the dangers of sending emails As the Labour party has recently experienced, inappropriate emails are a regrettable factor of working life. A new survey has suggested that mis-sent emails cause embarrassment more frequently than might be imagined, with one in three workers saying they've sent emails to the wrong recipient. The survey, carried out by consumer data company Experian in conjunction with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), involving men and women at all levels across UK businesses, into the email habits of the nation. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2111536,00.html - - - - - - - - Survey: Readers bullish on security, Linux In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, continued hack attempts and pernicious new viruses, technophiles expect that companies will boost spending on security-related software. About one- third of the readers who responded to a recent survey by CNET News.com picked security as the niche where information technology spending would most increase. Services and consulting software came in second. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-933857.html - - - - - - - - When a crisis blows in, cool heads will prevail Neal Shelley stopped in to see his boss, Michael Selves, at the Armys Information Management Support Center at the Pentagon for one of their regular morning meetings. It was about 8:30 a.m. that fateful Sept. 11. A little more than an hour later, after Shelley had returned to his office on the other side of the building, disaster struck. http://gcn.com/21_13/management/18778-1.html A support teams extreme test http://gcn.com/21_13/management/18779-1.html Entry detected http://gcn.com/21_13/management/18780-1.html - - - - - - - - Hack your TiVo! Here's how I can't complain about my TiVo anymore. Not since I learned how to make it skip commercials by jumping forward 30 seconds at a time, just like I can with my UltimateTV and ReplayTV boxes. Of course, TiVo can't do this right out of the box--and it probably never will. But the nice programmers left a backdoor open for those of us willing to join the ranks of TiVo hackers. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-933834.html ReplayTV owners file suit to protect users' rights http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3418583.htm http://online.securityfocus.com/news/470 http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,53019,00.html The week in review: Pirate TV http://news.com.com/2100-1023-934030.html - - - - - - - - Justice Dept. Defends New FBI Powers New FBI guidelines that allow agents to monitor religious meetings and Internet traffic will not lead to an erosion of civil rights, a senior Justice Department official said Friday. Rather, the expanded powers will give the FBI the tools it needs to pursue terrorists who hide in plain sight and target citizens, said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Viet Dinh. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13973-2002Jun7.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.