November 7, 2002
New worm threat upgraded
Anti-virus software maker F-Secure has upgraded
the threat posed by the email worm W32/Braid.A-mm
to a level 2 alert - a new virus which is causing
large infections which might be local to a specific
region. The worm is written in Visual Basic and
it usually arrives in an e-mail message as
README.EXE attachment.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/07/1036308411751.html
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Russian firm warns of Roron virus
Antivirus company Kaspersky Labs warns of a new
worm which could let hackers gain control of home
computers. Russian antivirus company on Wednesday
warned that a new virus could help hackers gain
control of home computers, but other security
companies downplayed the threat. Kaspersky Labs
has named the virus, or worm, Roron, and it is
known as Oror.B by several other companies. The
new computer virus can spread through email
messages, shared hard drives and the Kazaa file-
sharing network, Kaspersky Labs spokesman Denis
Zemkin said.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2125529,00.html
Kazaa ups virus protection as Aust users threatened
While its overall impact has been limited to date,
the recent outbreak of the Roron virus (aka W32/
Oror-B) has served to remind P2P users of the
added danger they face when downloading and
swapping files. Spreading by e-mail, local area
and peer-to-peer networks Roron is the latest in
a series of viruses which takes advantage of the
increasingly popularity of file sharing technology.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000024985,20269727,00.htm
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Tech issues get new lease on life
With Republicans in control of Congress, President
Bush called on lawmakers to pass legislation to
create the proposed Homeland Security Department
before the end of the year. "The single most
important item of unfinished business on Capitol
Hill is creating a unified body to protect the
American people," Bush said at a White House
news conference Nov. 7.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1104/web-congress-11-07-02.asp
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The FBI's Cybercrime Crackdown
In contrast to the teenage hackers of yore, today's
perpetrators -- virtually all of them adults --
mount extremely sophisticated attacks. They don't
brag, and they don't leave obvious tracks. To
protect the classified information stored on her
desktop computer, Special Agent Nenette Day uses
one of the most powerful tools on the planet --
an air gap. Day points to an IBM ThinkPad resting
on the table behind her desk. "That computer is
hooked up to the Internet," she says. "But if
you break into it, have a good time: there's
no secret work on it."
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19909.html
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Hack attacks on rise in Asia
Indonesian hackers on rise since Bali bombing Hackers
based in Indonesia and Malaysia have been launching
digital attacks on neighbouring countries, say
computer security experts. October, the month in
which a bomb exploded on the Indonesian island of
Bail, has seen heightened cyber attacks in South
East Asia and Oceania, according to a report from
security firm mi2g.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2415795.stm
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Debit cards may be convenient, but take heed using them online
As debit cards grow in popularity, more Americans
are starting to use them to shop on the Internet.
Before you join their ranks, there are pros and
cons you should weigh. Debit cards also known
as cash cards, money cards, check cards or ATM
cards have an advantage over credit cards
because they don't put you in debt.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2002-11-07-debit-cards_x.htm
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Privacy group counters P2P crackdown
The Electronic Privacy Information Center is
launching a counterattack against Hollywood's
efforts to crack down on student file-swapping.
The privacy advocacy group is sending letters
to presidents of colleges across the country,
asking them to think before they install
monitoring tools on university networks.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-964908.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-964908.html
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FBI names new IT executive
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III today named
Charles S. Prouty to the post of executive
assistant director of law enforcement services,
a post in which he will oversee the bureaus
Criminal Justice Information Service Division
as well as training, laboratory, critical response
and international operations. Prouty succeeds
executive assistant director Kathleen L.
McChesney who is retiring from the FBI after
24 years as a special agent to work for the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/20437-1.html
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Climbing Spam Mountain
Pornographic spam rose slightly last month, while
financially-related unsolicited messages became
marginally less of a problem. That's according
to monthly statistics from spam filtering firm
Brightmail which reports adult spam rose one per
cent to 12 per cent in October while financial
spam decreased slightly to 36 per cent last
month, from 38 per cent in September.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27996.html
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'You are being watched'
Standing on a traffic island in the middle of Times
Square, Bill Brown might as well be on stage. TV
cameras sweep the street to film lead-ins for news
shows; security cameras protect store entrances;
Web cameras focus out on the street so tourists
can wave to friends and family back home via the
Internet. Since the devices are often hidden or
disguised, it takes several seconds for his
small tour group to pick them out.
http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/610814p-4712581c.html
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Security technologies could backfire against consumers
At the USENIX Security Conference held here
recently, Microsoft developers touted the
company's upcoming Palladium architecture
as technology that would enhance privacy,
stymie piracy and increase a corporation's
control over its computers. Others, however,
see a more nefarious role for the security
software.
http://news.com.com/2009-1001-964628.html
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Chicago housing agency sings password blues
At the Chicago Housing Authority, theres a mouse
in the house. The nations third-largest public
housing authority is swapping its password-based
network security for a biometric system that uses
a computer mouse to scan and submit user fingerprints.
The way the agencys network was set up, users had
to type in several user IDs and passwords, said
Bryan Land, assistant CIO at CHA. People were
always calling, saying they forgot their
passwords, Land said.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/20435-1.html
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Irises, voices give away terrorists
The United States is compiling digital dossiers
of the irises, fingerprints, faces and voices
of terrorism suspects and using the information
to track their movements and screen foreigners
trying to enter the country. Since January,
military and intelligence operatives have
collected the identifying data on prisoners
in Afghanistan and at the U.S. naval base in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There are also plans to
extend the collection process to Iraq in the
event of a U.S. invasion.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/11/07/terror.biometrics.ap/index.html
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How to Keep The Wireless Snoops Away
A wireless network is like hundreds of network
cables floating in search of a rogue computer.
A good attacker can get into most networks by
taking advantage of a wireless connection and
its Wired Equivalent Privacy security. WEP
represents the encryption of communications
data sent over radio waves, specifically using
an 802.11b system. But WEP, offered with varying
amounts of encryption, is vulnerable because
a smart attacker can obtain data pertinent
to circumventing the coding by capturing
sufficient frames of data.
http://online.securityfocus.com/news/1592
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Network Signals Just Scream to Be Exploited
Organizations ignore the security risks of
wireless networking at their peril. I recently
strolled past federal buildings along Connecticut
Avenue in Washington, carrying a beta-test model
of a tablet PC equipped with an integrated IEEE
802.11b wireless PC Card. In no time, it auto-
detected a wireless network. The tablet asked
me if I wanted to connect. I declined, but as
I kept walking, the tablet detected signals for
three more wireless networks. (Apparently, the
Secret Service is curious about these free-
ranging signals, too, and has sent teams around
Washington snooping for wireless networks that
broadcast signals onto the street.)
http://online.securityfocus.com/news/1593
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Data security for Linux power users
A couple of months ago I wrote a security how to
for Linux newbies, the goal of which was to help
people achieve decent security using easy and safe
techniques. Now it's time to address you power
users out there, by which I mean people comfortable
with the command line, using a text editor from the
console, and tweaking configuration files -- people
confident enough in their ability to recover from
unpleasant surprises to take a bit of risk with
their systems in the interest of securing their
data and their privacy.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/27998.html
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