NewsBits for April 1, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Hackers plan attacks to protest war Chinese hacker groups are planning attacks on U.S. and U.K.-based Web sites to protest the war in Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security warned in an alert that it unintentionally posted on a government Web site yesterday. http://www.msnbc.com/news/893791.asp - - - - - - - - - - Feds Are Shocked! Shocked! A federal prosecutor says PayPal violated a 2001 anti-terror law aimed at fighting money laundering when it provided payment services to online gambling companies, the Web auctioneer said in its annual report filed on Monday. PayPal, an online cash transfer service provider owned by eBay, agreed in August to restrict online gambling merchants from using its transaction system and paid a $200,000 penalty to New York state. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58307,00.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/04/01/ebay.paypal.reut/index.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2132761,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Teen faces new trial in piracy case A Norwegian court will retry a teen whose DVD-copying exploits made him a hero to hackers worldwide, in a case that will be closely monitored by Hollywood. In January, an Oslo court acquitted 19-year-old Jon Johansen of charges that he developed a computer program that enabled mass copying of movies on DVDs. Hollywood studios accused Johansen of developing the software and posting his findings on the Internet. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-994919.html http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/836212p-5886628c.html http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/5533448.htm - - - - - - - - - - Sentence passed in one of the largest internet auction frauds A Gilsum man has been sentenced to 6 years in federal prison in one of the largest internet auction fraud investigations by postal inspectors. Jay Nelson, 35, pleaded guilty last July to mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and identity fraud in a case that involved more than 1,700 victims, the U.S. attorney's office said Monday. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-04-01-net-scam_x.htm http://www.msnbc.com/news/893500.asp - - - - - - - - - - Former jailer sentenced for Internet soliciting A former Davis County corrections officer has been sentenced to 180 days in jail for soliciting sex from what he thought was a 13-year-old boy. ''I don't justify or minimize what I've done,'' David Michael Vance, 26, said before Judge Glen R. Dawson sentenced him Monday. Vance was arrested in September by members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including some members of his own department, for arranging over the Internet a meeting at a church parking lot with an officer posing as a 13-year-old boy. http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=41879 - - - - - - - - - - Cop Posing As Teen Nabs Internet Sex Suspect A man from central Ohio is the latest person to be arrested for allegedly trying to have sex after meeting what he thought was a teenage girl on the Internet. Thomas Tarbay, 48, of Pickerington, Ohio, is charged with one count of attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and five counts of importuning, according to a statement from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. Tarbay was arrested Thursday at about 8:30 p.m. near Interstate 71 and Pfeifer Road. He allegedly traveled to Cincinnati to meet a 15-year-old girl and take her to a local motel for sex. http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2071235/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Law Student From Angier Charged With Internet Sex Crime An Angier native was recently charged with two counts of soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet. According to the Virginian-Pilot, Robin Vanderwall, a third-year law student at Regent University, was arrested Jan. 10 in Virginia Beach, Va. Mr. Vanderwall, who has helped run several successful Republican campaigns in the Virginia Beach area, was arrested after he contacted a Virginian Beach police officer posing as an underage boy in an Internet chat room. http://www.dunndailyrecord.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=43702 - - - - - - - - - - INTERNET PORN MAN IS JAILED A COMPUTER programmer who downloaded more than 2,500 images of child pornography from the internet has begun a ninemonth jail sentence. Cambridge graduate John Sullivan, 28, spent thousands of pounds accessing indecent photographs of children as well as adult pornography, Cambridge Crown Court was told yesterday. Of the 2,735 obscene images of youngsters filed on his computer including those depicting children as young as a few months to five and six-years-old some were regarded as among the most extreme on the internet. http://w3.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/story.asp?StoryID=10141 - - - - - - - - - - Childporn shocker A factory worker called in the police after "borrowing" a workmate's computer disc, Teesside Crown Court was told. The man - who took the disc without permission, believing it to containadult pornography - found it to be full of child sex images, prosecutor Aisha Wadoodi told the court. The result, she said, was that police raided the Billingham home of Christopher Powton, 21, where they discovered more than 1,700 computer-generated child porn images on his laptop machine. Powton, of Dinsdale Court, was jailed for 12 months and placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years when he admitted 12 specimen charges of making indecent photographs of children. http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0001head/page.cfm?objectid=12789163&method=full&siteid=50080 - - - - - - - - - - ISU Student Arrested On Computer Porn Charges Iowa State University police officials arrested 19-year-old Nicholas Lahr on a warrant charging him with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. On March 12, 2003, an ISU police officer searched publicly shared files on the Iowa State University network for keywords related to images likely to depict child pornography. That search identified a shared folder containing several images that appeared to be child pornography. Following the search, Lahr provided a voluntary statement about the images on his computer. http://www.whotv.com/global/story.asp?s=1208415 - - - - - - - - - - Davenport Priest Indicted on Porn Charges A Davenport priest has been indicted on federal pornography charges. Authorities say 38-year old reverend Richard Poster possessed child pornography on a church computer. Poster has been indicted on one count of receipt and one count of possession of child pornography. If convicted, poster would face up to 15 years in prison. http://www.kcrg.com/article.aspx?art_id=55329&cat_id=123 - - - - - - - - - - Hacker in child porn case denies he was working as police agent A Canadian computer hacker who broke into an Orange County judge's computers and allegedly found child pornography has recanted previous testimony that he was working as a law enforcement agent, prosecutors said. Bradley Willman of Langley, British Columbia, said he was not working for the police in a case against former Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Kline, federal prosecutors said Monday. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-04-01-hacker-case_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Teenager's Web site hoax sparks Hong Kong panic A Web site with misinformation about the dangerous virus currently spreading in Hong Kong has forced a government statement to clarify its position. A teenager's Web site hoax about the killer virus that has badly hit Hong Kong has sparked panic food buying and hit financial markets, forcing the government to deny it would isolate the entire territory. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2132797,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Freedom to e-mail takes the stand Anti-Intel crusader Ken Hamidi's long-standing battle to highlight alleged unfair labor practices at the chip giant is set to get another day in court this week.At a hearing Wednesday, Intel is expected to ask the California Supreme Court to uphold an earlier legal ruling that found Hamidi had trespassed on its servers by sending thousands of unwanted e-mails to staff at work. Hamidi, an ex-Intel employee, will ask that the decision be overturned, arguing that he was merely expressing his First Amendment rights. http://news.com.com/2100-1028-994846.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/893806.asp http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2132763,00.html http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-994846.html - - - - - - - - - - Security department may oversee Internet infrastructure The Homeland Security Department may take more of a direct role coordinating the security of the Internet's infrastructure, a top administration official said Tuesday. The Bush administration's acting cybersecurity adviser Howard Schmidt said in an interview that homeland security and government agencies officials are working to formalize a security apparatus for the global Internet root servers, a series of computer systems that underpin the Internet's address system. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0403/040103td1.htm - - - - - - - - - - Justice budgets for terrorism Attorney General John Ashcroft outlined the Justice Department's efforts against terrorism, including programs for information sharing and foreign visitor registrations, at a Senate hearing on the fiscal 2004 budget. In prepared statements, Ashcroft further detailed funding for technology in the department, such as improvements in FBI's Trilogy modernization program and its Computer Intrusion Program. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0331/web-justice-04-01-03.asp - - - - - - - - - - Library Web porn filter bill still alive When library employees realized a Level II sex offender was hanging out at the Renton Library last week, looking at pornography on the Internet, they got concerned and notified police. Internet pornography is a vexing dilemma for librarians, who in general support patrons' rights to view information of all legal types. But one legislator doesn't see it that way. ``I've said it before and I'll say it again,'' said Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester. ``Libraries, children and pornography: Which one doesn't belong?'' http://www.kingcountyjournal.com/sited/story/html/126448 - - - - - - - - - - Libraries struggle to balance Net access, child protection How safe is your child at the library? The computer age has added a new duty to the task list of library employees and a new worry to the growing list of parental worries: protecting children from online porn. Despite the fact that Internet filters aren't perfect, Fond du Lac Public Library Director Ken Hall says parents can feel safe at the local library. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2003-04-01-net-filters_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Police warn of potential for trouble on Internet People can get into a heap of trouble without leaving the comfort and privacy of their homes, thanks to the Internet. Parents particularly need to keep an eye on what their children are up to online, Youth Services Detective Brooke Lemoine warned Monday. Given the growing reliance on the Internet for commerce, information and personal enjoyment, it will probably continue to be an important factor in how children learn and grow, Lemoine said in a press release. However, he added, cyberspace has (been) shown to have some pretty dark corners. http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID=25&SubSectionID=377&ArticleID=77084 - - - - - - - - - - State registry of sex offenders just a click away The state police sex offender registry returned to the Internet Monday, just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that publishing offenders pictures and personal information didnt violate their constitutional rights. The list contains the names, addresses and pictures of about 2,500 convicted sex offenders, who are required to register with the state upon their release from prison. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1281&dept_id=31007&newsid=7562934&PAG=461&rfi=9 - - - - - - - - - - Report: Most IT experts don't trust security of Microsoft apps Three-fourths of computer software security experts at major companies surveyed by Forrester Research do not think Microsoft's products are secure, the technology research company said Monday. While 77% of respondents in the information technology field said security was a top concern when using Windows, 89% still use the software for sensitive applications, Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester said in a report entitled Can Microsoft Be Secure? http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2003-04-01-microsoft-security_x.htm http://news.com.com/2100-1002-994878.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2132753,00.html http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-994878.html Microsoft Still Suffers from Security Image Problem http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21151.html - - - - - - - - - - Free software gives hackers taste of own medicine IT security specialist Backfire Security today announced the availability of a software download as a discrete desk-top client application which wreaks revenge on those hackers and culprits attacking your network or infecting users with worms and/or viruses. The freeware package - PAYBACK v1.0 - is available from www.backfiresecurity.co.uk in both PC and Mac formats. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/30036.html - - - - - - - - - - Group eyes Web services security A standards body is hoping to remove one of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of greater Web services adoption. The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) on Monday said that it has established a working group to sort through overlapping proposals aimed at adding security to Web services applications. http://news.com.com/2100-1012-994938.html - - - - - - - - - - Documentum tackles e-mail retention Documentum on Tuesday released new software intended to make it easier for companies to track critical documents ranging from sales reports to e-mail messages. Documentum Enterprise Records Management Edition adds the tools to the company's enterprise content management software (CMS), back-end software that tracks and controls access to various corporate documents. http://news.com.com/2100-1012-994935.html - - - - - - - - - - 419 scammers surface in Baghdad With Gulf War II less than two weeks old, we're impressed to see that Nigerian advanced fee fraudsters - or "419ers" as they're known in the parlance of international scams - have rapidly deployed to offer Western partners a bite of the Iraqi oil billions falafel: 10 Jasim Street, Ibrahim'Ali, Baghdad, Iraq. Email: falbashar@olumo.net Re: Urgent Assistance Needed http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/30039.html - - - - - - - - - - Misfired Messages Roil Businesses When Peter Shankman, CEO of boutique public relations firm The Geek Factory, clicked to open an e-mail from a client, he wasn't expecting to find a topless photo of her inside. The e-mail was intended for her significant other -- who was also a "Peter S" -- but Microsoft Outlook had filled in the blanks with Shankman's name instead. Today's on-the-go workers are sending e-mails and instant messages containing derogatory comments and jokes, risque images or sensitive information in droves -- to the wrong people. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58290,00.html - - - - - - - - - - U.S. Information Security Law, Part Two: Protecting Private Sector Systems and Securing the Working Environment. This is the second part of a four-part series looking at U.S. information security laws and the way those laws affect security professionals. In the first part of this series, we looked at the legal framework for protection of information systems and the role of information security professionals in the creation of trade secret interests. In this installment, we will look at the legal framework for security of an enterprise's working environment from the perspective of information security professionals, with particular emphasis on the protection of communications. http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1681 U.S. Information Security Law, Part One: Protecting Private Sector Systems, and Information Security Professionals and Trade Secrets http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1669 - - - - - - - - - - Ridge: Merging watch lists tops IT agenda Consolidating the governments various watch lists of suspected terrorists is the Homeland Security Departments top IT goal, Tom Ridge said today. We have several departments and units that developed their own watch lists, the Homeland Security secretary said. Our first IT priority is to consolidate those watch lists so people at the borders and airports and respective agencies can access that broader list of namesthe aggregate of these names. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21543-1.html *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. An intense, 150 hour, instructor lead program that teaches you computer forensics and helps prepare you for the Certified Computer Examiner exam. For more information see; www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu *********************************************************** 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. 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