July 24, 2002 Seven charged in VAT fraud investigation Seven people have been charged with VAT and money laundering offences following raids by Customs and Excise officers investigating an alleged computer component fraud earlier this week. Neil Dawe, 37, of Newquay, Cornwall and Dean Simons, 34, of Hinckley, Leicester were charged with VAT offences. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/26352.html - - - - - - - - Judge orders alleged cybersquatter to shut down anti-abortion Web sites A federal judge has ordered a South St. Paul man to shut down his anti-abortion Web sites with domain names that are confusingly similar to the trademarked names of some of the nation's best known companies. U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday against William S. Purdy Sr. on behalf of McDonald's Corp., PepsiCo Inc., Coca-Cola Co., The Washington Post Co. and Washingtonpost.newsweekInteractive Co. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3721782.htm http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/07/24/cybersquatting.ruling.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - MSN TV prank creating 'emergencies' MSN TV users are inadvertently calling emergency services after falling prey to a prank program that changes the daily dialup number on their set-top boxes to 911. The program arrives in an e-mail message with the subject line "NEAT" and has been plaguing users since at least April, according to posts on newsgroups regarding WebTV, the former moniker for Microsoft's interactive TV service. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-945985.html - - - - - - - - Liability, antitrust protections needed to improve cyber-security Experts in computer security, emboldened since Sept. 11 by renewed attention to threats of cyber- terrorism, are asking Congress for protections from liability lawsuits, antitrust restrictions and public disclosure laws as companies begin sharing more sensitive information about Internet attacks. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3725784.htm - - - - - - - - Relax laws to boost Web security, U.S. officials say Bush administration officials called on Congress toen-government laws Wednesday to help fight computer crime, drawing a sharp response from a Democratic lawmaker who said the move would create a haven for corporate abuses. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3727480.htm http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,54088,00.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53172-2002Jul23.html - - - - - - - - Tech pros: Cyberbomb's ready to go off Almost half of information technology professionals believe there will be a major Internet attack on U.S. businesses in the next year, an event for which they believe corporations are unprepared, according to a survey released Wednesday. The Business Software Alliance's survey found that 47 percent of corporate network administrators believe that U.S. businesses will be attacked in the next year, compared with 19 percent who believe that such an attack would not occur. Moreover, only 19 percent believe their company was ready for such an attack, while 45 percent thought their company was unprepared. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-946161.html Report urges states to organize against cyberterror http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/policy/story/0,10801,72947,00.html http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2002/0722/web-pwc-07-24-02.asp - - - - - - - - Cyber Service attracting students The Federal Cyber Service program, which offers scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students to study information assurance in exchange for two years of federal service, could have as many as 200 to 300 students by the end of the year, said Sujeet Shenoi, professor of computer science at the University of Tulsa. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0722/web-corps-07-24-02.asp - - - - - - - - Official: Security won't hurt privacy Devising better ways to accurately identify individuals is a key part of the Bush administration's homeland security strategy, but a senior Bush aide promised July 23 that high-tech identification systems won't be allowed to undercut civil liberties. Steve Cooper told a gathering of congressional staffers and technology company representatives that the Bush administration does not favor any use of technology that undermines personal privacy or the openness of American society. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0722/web-info-07-24-02.asp - - - - - - - - Security driven two-headed hard drive A Japanese start-up has come up with a mutant piece of hardware that it says may deliver "perfect security" for Web servers: a two- headed hard disk drive. Tokyo-based Scarabs has developed a prototype of the hard drive, which has a read-only head and a read-write head. The Web server can only read from the drive, theoretically making it impossible for attackers to deface the site or otherwise modify data. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-946021.html http://news.com.com/2100-1001-946083.html http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,102881,00.asp - - - - - - - - Palladium Raises Eyebrows What if every PC had its own unique encryption keystored in hardwarethat not even its owner knew? That's the basic idea behind Microsoft's Palladium security initiative. It combines hardware-based storage of an encryption key with software that will be provided by the next version of Windows. Together, those measures could provide a much higher degree of security for user data. To make it happen, Microsoft is teaming up with Intel and AMD to provide the required hardware. http://www.techweb.com/tech/security/20020724_security - - - - - - - - Executives Advised to Take Role in Internet Security Internet security issues need to be addressed in boardrooms and executive suites, not just data centers and network storage closets. That's the message one industry organization is trying to convey by targeting the upper echelon of management with a guide on how to ward off potential threats. The guide, to be released today by the Internet Security Alliance, recommends that executives adopt 10 key practices in order to protect their organizations' vulnerable networks and content. http://online.securityfocus.com/news/546 - - - - - - - - Here's one more trick up hackers' sleeves In the early days of the Internet, Web pages were flat. Now they are dynamic, often created on the fly and/or customized to incorporate your preferences. For example, Travelocity.com offers information about travel to and from destinations you choose each time you visit the site. The advantages of dynamic pages are many: content is fresher, easier to maintain, and easier to navigate. Unfortunately, some dynamic Web sites also expose you to cross-site scripting (XSS), a method of capturing personal information that's becoming increasingly popular with malicious users. http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2875356,00.html - - - - - - - - The economics of spam-II The line between permission-based or opt-in e-mail marketing and spam is getting thinner by the day. Some list resellers guarantee the consensual nature of their wares. According to the Direct Marketing Association's guidelines, quoted by PC World, not responding to an unsolicited e-mail amounts to "opting-in" - a marketing strategy known as "opting out." Most experts, though, strongly urge spam victims not to respond to spammers, lest their e-mail address is confirmed. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/476600p-3809130c.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.