June 24, 2002 Italian police break child porn web ring Businessmen and army officers among 1,146 suspects. An investigation into an internet porn ring in Italy has led to 1,146 people being implicated, among them police officers, businessmen and members of the armed forces. Although no arrests have yet been made, police confirmed that raids in about 80 towns throughout the country had led to the seizure of over 280 computers along with over 5,000 floppy disks and 4,000 digital images. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132917 - - - - - - - - Aussie charged in Thai prison Net drug scam US authorities have indicted an Australian inmate at Thailand's Klong Prem prison, alleging that he used the Internet to manage a heroin shipping operation while incarcerated at the facility. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed that the Australian Embassy in Bangkok is providing consular assistance to Australian Ian Blake, after US authorities charged him with conspiring to import heroin into the United States via the Net. http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000024985,20266160,00.htm - - - - - - - - Investigators watching for suspected al-Qaida Web site U.S. officials are scouring the Internet for any reappearance of an Arabic Web site they believe was used by al-Qaida to send messages to followers including possible instructions for its next attacks, USA Today reported Saturday. The site, known as alneda.com, is a "mouthpiece for al-Qaida in exile" U.S. law enforcement officials and independent terrorism experts told the newspaper, adding that the site is one of al-Qaida's main instruments in its effort to regroup. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/443889p-3553554c.html - - - - - - - - Russia poised to restrict Net activities Russia's parliament may give final approval this week to sweeping restrictions on using the Internet to oppose the government. At the request of President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Duma voted 272 to 126 last week in favor of the offline and online restrictions as an immediate response to what Putin called a spate of pro-Nazi and anti-religious extremist activities. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-938810.html - - - - - - - - European websites face hijack risk Web address databasing system riddled with holes. A "worrying" number of European websites could be at risk from hijack due to inherent security glitches in the Ripe internet address databasing system. Research from independent security firm Matta has revealed that poor authentication procedures used in registries such as Ripe, which governs internet address spacing and IP allocation in Europe, could give hackers the keys to the kingdom of a number of high profile sites. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132935 - - - - - - - - Critics Say Antivirus Firms Pumping Up Fear McAfee said it had a duty to inform its 50 million customers it had learned about a new kind of virus, and that the news media is the most effective way of reaching out to them. Did you catch the JPEG virus last week? No, you didn't. The new computer contagion, according to antivirus softwaremaker McAfee, takes advantage of one of the Internet's most popular uses - e-mailing photos - to get dangerous code onto computers. http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18345.html - - - - - - - - Buy online without revealing card number If you worry about using your credit card for online purchases, you're not alone. Despite advances in encryption technology, used by most online merchants, concern over credit-card fraud and identity theft has been rising sharply over the past decade. The Federal Trade Commission now ranks identity theft as U.S. consumers' top fraud complaint. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/444528p-3556754c.html - - - - - - - - CD pirates in from the cold AUSTRALIA plans to endorse CD-copying kiosks in a controversial world-first plan that legalises music piracy. The Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society will allow an Adelaide-based business to operate CD-pirating kiosks nationwide for a modest royalty payment. The coin-operated kiosks could open in shopping malls, supermarkets or record stores from September and charge $5 for each CD "burn". http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4567037%255E13762,00.html - - - - - - - - DOD tests biometrics to secure its smart cards The Defense Departments Biometrics Fusion Center soon will begin testing software on four types of biometric devices for use on its Common Access smart cards. DODs Biometrics Management Office last week awarded a $915,000 contract to KPMG Consulting Inc. of McLean, Va., to conduct a 90-day test of biometric identifiers that could authenticate smart-card holders for building and network access. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/19108-1.html - - - - - - - - 007 Sean Connery in spam a friend for Scotland blooper Revered Scottish icon Sir Sean Connery* has been fingered by PA for engaging in 'spam a friend' tactics. And we've absolutely no idea why we found this one in Australia, but there you go. Sean, a long-standing and prominent supporter of the Scottish National Party, has been using his not for profit web site, seanconnery.com, to solicit donations for the cause, and regrettably committs the cardinal faux pas of asking donors to pass him email addresses of potentially like-minded friends. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/25849.html - - - - - - - - Lotus Domino goes spam busting The latest IBM Lotus Domino 6 software is to include anti-spam features in a bid to give administrators more control in weeding out junk email. Since the anti-spam technology is located on the server, the developers claim it will enable administrators to delete spam before it gets to the recipient. Those behind the product also claim it could lead to lower administration and maintenance costs. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/23/25863.html - - - - - - - - MS DRM OS, retagged 'secure OS' to ship with Longhorn? The Microsoft Secure PC project is rolling out, and could be with us as early as the next major version of Windows, Longhorn. The whole idea of a computer that just plain won't let you steal other people's stuff is of course a tricky one (why would you buy it?), as we've previously indicated here, and here, so the ever-resourceful Beast is proposing to spin it as the ultimate tool for protecting your stuff. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/495 - - - - - - - - The Big Secret An exclusive first look at Microsofts ambitious- and risky-plan to remake the personal computer to ensure security, privacy and intellectual property rights. Will you buy it? In ancient Troy stood the Palladium, a statue of the goddess Athena. Legend has it that the safety of the city depended on that icons preservation. Later the term came to mean a more generic safeguard. http://www.msnbc.com/news/770511.asp http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/06/24/microsoft-security.htm - - - - - - - - Your PC is under attack At first, the signs are subtle: Your computer is slower than usual, something is different about your browser, occasionally you're redirected to an unfamiliar Web site for no apparent reason. When you finally figure out the problem, you discover that someone has been tracking every keystroke on your keyboard for days while using your PC's resources to maintain a network that researches extraterrestrial life. Adding insult to injury, you find that your 8-year-old son agreed to the whole mess to get some software given away online. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-938652.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2117816,00.html http://news.com.com/2009-1023-937457.html - - - - - - - - The Domestic Spying Renaissance John Ashcroft's decision to unshackle the FBI's domestic surveillance powers seem perfectly reasonable... if you forget why the bureau was shackled in the first place. Earlier this month, Attorney General Ashcroft announced that he was essentially removing the shackles from the FBI, and permitting agents to engage in surveillance -- including certain Internet surveillance -- of political, social or ethnic groups, without either probable cause or reasonable suspicion that any of these groups had been or were likely to be engaged in any form of criminal activity. http://online.securityfocus.com/columnists/90 - - - - - - - - The online security patchwork In today's global marketplace, the Internet has become the critical conduit powering a growing list of revenue-generating business activities from e-commerce and supply chain management to online marketplaces and collaboration. Web Services leverage the ubiquity of the Internet to link applications, systems and resources within and among enterprises to enable new business processes and relationships with customers, partners and suppliers around the world. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-938687.html - - - - - - - - Download this security resource list for administrators Securing your network from Internet threats has never been tougher. Every day, new viruses and vulnerabilities are uncovered, and its a challenge just to stay up to date on current security issues, let alone stay informed about how to handle new problems.Luckily, the biggest conduit of network security hazards is also the best source of information and utilities for better securing your network. http://www.techrepublic.com/article.jhtml?id=r00220020625rgi01.htm - - - - - - - - Teach users these five laptop security musts While encryption software might protect your organization's data if a laptop is stolen, preventing the laptop from walking away in the first place is your best line of defense. IT pro Pat Vickers and Gartner analyst John Girard both recommend that these five tips on how to physically secure laptops be taught to all laptop users http://www.techrepublic.com/article.jhtml?id=r00320020424wtn01.htm - - - - - - - - Mueller details FBI's IT plans Success in reorganizing the FBI to effectively prevent terrorist attacks depends to a great degree on the bureau's ability to solve its information technology problems, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House subcommittee June 21. Mueller said he is trying to transform the FBI's 90-year-old bureaucracy that still depends heavily on paper documents to one that uses digital information and enables agents and divisions to communicate instantaneously with one another and retrieve information from integrated databases of the FBI, CIA, State Department, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and other intelligence and law enforcement agencies. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0624/news-fbi-06-24-02.asp - - - - - - - - High-tech startups battle bureaucracy to aid homeland security In Washington state, a Tacoma company has invented a computer program that could stop terrorists from using a plane as a missile. An Auburn firm has tested a device that might have allowed air traffic controllers to track the planes headed for the World Trade Center towers. And a Bellevue company has invented a smart card with a biometric watermark the Secret Service is interested in. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/443810p-3553162c.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.