NewsBits for April 22, 2003 sponsored by,
Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu
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Peru Crushes 50,000 Pirated CDs with Steamroller
Peru's state property rights agency on Tuesday
crushed 50,000 pirated music CDs with a steamroller
on a Lima street as part of a plan to deter a rampant
trade in counterfeit goods. Musicians and singers
danced atop the pile of thousands of compact discs
protesting pirating that the government says inhibits
artistic creativity and starves a cash-strapped
state of needed taxes. "We need to eliminate
(piracy) immediately ... We are calling on everyone
to come out and help us crush counterfeit goods,"
Martin Moscoso, director for intellectual property
rights of state agency INDECOPI, told Canal N cable
television.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16325-2003Apr22.html
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E. Naples man enters plea agreement in child porn case
An East Naples man whose child pornography case was
first dismissed by a judge then reinstated by an appeal
court has reached a plea agreement to serve nine months
in jail. Paul Pasko, 45, of 908 Augusta Blvd., was
sentenced Monday to nine months in the Collier County
jail, followed by five years of state probation. Pasko
pleaded no contest in Collier Circuit Court to 77 felony
counts of possession of photos depicting sexual conduct
by a child. It was one judge's definition of the latter
part of that charge, sexual conduct, that led to dismissal
of the case against Pasko in December 2000. Having a
photograph of a nude child isn't necessarily illegal,
ruled Circuit Judge William Blackwell, now in Charlotte
County but based in Collier County at the time of the
ruling. For Pasko's actions to be illegal, the photos
must show a lewd display of the genitals or the child
engaged in sexual conduct. In this case, neither applied,
Blackwell ruled. Collier County sheriff's deputies found
the images, downloaded from the Internet, on Pasko's
computer. All 77 photos showed nude girls under age
18 and as young as 6 or 7. Some of the photos were
of nude children doing regular activities such as
playing a flute, showering or holding flowers.
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/04/naples/d919722a.htm
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Man faces trial on child porn charges
A local man who last week was sentenced to five years
probation in Ulster County Court on a charge of stealing
credit cards now faces child pornography charges in Greene
County stemming from an investigation into another credit
card scam. Barry Brecker, 49, pleaded guilty earlier this
month to a single charge of felony grand larceny. On Nov.
27, police said, Brecker stole credit cards from a home
where he had been hired to do yard work and used the hot
plastic to make numerous purchases in Woodstock. The arrest
by Woodstock police was Brecker's second run-in with police
in 2002. According to Greene County District Attorney Terry
Wilhelm, Brecker will go on trial next month for 10 felony
counts of possessing an obscene sexual performance by
a child. Brecker was arrested following an investigation
by state police into an identity-theft scam carried out
by a friend and neighbor in the village of Catskill,
where Brecker lived until recently. According to Wilhelm,
the friend was arrested in early 2002 for using stolen
personal information to apply for credit cards online.
Brecker was a suspect in the case and detectives from
the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation seized
his computer, looking for evidence. While nothing on the
computer linked Brecker to the credit card fraud, police
discovered pornographic images of children, Wilhelm said.
Brecker was arrested on Feb. 21 2002, and later indicted.
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1769&dept_id=72585&newsid=7783511&PAG=461&rfi=9
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Penn aide booked in kid-porn case
Penn's library director got booked yesterday for
allegedly checking out the kiddie porn section of
the Internet. But instead of a nickel-a-day fine,
University of Pennsylvania Vice Provost Paul Mosher
faces hard time in the true crime section for allegedly
possessing child pornography. He turned himself in
yesterday to Philadelphia police sex crimes detectives
on charges stemming from what investigators say were
well over 2,000 pornographic images depicting children.
The cyber smut was allegedly purchased by Mosher with
a credit card and downloaded onto an office computer
he used at Penn's Van Pelt Library, where he has been
the director since 1988.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/5686804.htm
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Man, 30, indicted in sex case
A 30-year-old Waynesville man with ties to a 2001
sex case was indicted Monday on seven criminal
charges, accusing him of a three-day sexual
encounter with a 16-year-old Xenia girl he met
on the Internet. The girl told police she had
consensual sex with Gregory S. Hoagland for
three days after he picked her up at her house
on New Year's Eve and showed her pornographic
magazines and movies, according to court records.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0422indict.html
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Record labels sue Napster investor
Two major record labels filed suit Monday against
venture capital firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
for its investment in Napster, alleging that it
contributed to rampant music theft through the former
file-swapping network. Universal Music Group and EMI
Recorded Music filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District
Court in Los Angeles against San Francisco-based
Hummer Winblad, its cofounder John Hummer and general
partner Hank Barry, who was formerly the CEO at Napster.
The 23-page complaint charges that the Napster system,
as conceived and implemented, "provided a safe haven
for the rampant piracy of copyrighted works on an epic
and unprecedented scale...Hummer Winblad knowingly
facilitated infringement of plaintiff's copyrights
for its direct financial benefit."
http://news.com.com/2100-1027-997860.html
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Amazon.com Accused of Privacy Violations
Privacy and consumer advocacy groups Monday
asked federal regulators to investigate Amazon.com,
claiming that the online retail giant lets children
post personal information on its Web site in violation
of a children's privacy law. The Electronic Privacy
Information Center, the Media Access Project and
several other groups charged that Seattle-based
Amazon lets children post online product reviews,
which often include their names, e-mail addresses
and other personal data. A 1998 federal law, the
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, requires
Web sites to get parental consent before allowing
children under the age of 13 to post data.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/4125
http://news.com.com/2100-1019-997893.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13246-2003Apr22.html
Update: EBay, Amazon hit with complaints from privacy groups
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,80571,00.html
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White House cybersecurity czar resigns. Again
Former Microsoft security chief Howard Schmidt
has resigned as White House cybersecurity advisor,
just weeks into his new role. Schmidt took over
the job from his much-criticised predecessor,
Richard Clarke, in February. He is leaving at
the end of this month to work in the private
sector. In a resignation letter, Schmidt said
that many of the functions of his job had been
taken over by President Bush's newly-created
Homeland Security Department. A successor to
Schmidt is yet to be named.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/30351.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-04-22-cyber-adviser_x.htm
http://news.com.com/2100-1009-997840.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/04/21/cybersecurity.ap/index.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/903420.asp
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0421/web-schmidt-04-22-03.asp
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0403/042203h1.htm
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Consultants advise Los Alamos on security
Los Alamos National Laboratory needs to centralize
its IT user access controls, take better care
of its backup tapes and re-engineer its business
process controls before switching to a new financial
system, according to a report from an independent
auditor. Ernst & Young LLP of New York surveyed
the operations of the Los Alamos, N.M., weapons
laboratory for the University of California,
which manages the lab for the Energy Department.
The consulting firm compiled its findings into
seven reports, which the university released
yesterday.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/21845-1.html
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Hackers, Madonna mix it up
Madonna just can't seem to find peace on the Net.
After releasing the first single from her new "American
Life" album online a few weeks ago, the Material Girl
saw her Web site hacked last weekend, with links to
pirated versions of her full album replacing the sites
content. The hacker's attack appeared to be in response
to Madonna's most recent, typically colorful broadside
against file-swappers seeking free copies of her music.
The singer has put files that appear to be versions
of her new songs onto peer-to-peer networks that
actually contain recordings of her saying, "What
the f*** do you think you're doing?"
http://news.com.com/2100-1025-997856.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/30356.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2962475.stm
http://www.msnbc.com/news/903641.asp
DVD Copying Court Battle to Begin
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58583,00.html
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Military academies face off in blunting cyberattacks
A stream of hostile data packets flooded a Web
server. Cadets in camouflage fatigues moved double-
time, shouting about mail servers and passwords.
Cadet Dan Jeffers calmly tracked the action on
his computer screen, wondering about the enemy's
next move. "I'm sure they're just surfing around,
looking for something right now," said Jeffers,
examining long gray lines of scrolling script.
The Cyber Defense Exercise conducted last week
among the service academies in the United States
is a new kind of drill to prepare a new kind of
military. The flanking maneuver Jeffers worried
about didn't come from a tank column. It stemmed
from hackers ramming his computer defenses.
http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/863110p-6032291c.html
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Internet Is Losing Ground in Battle Against Spam
Alyx Sachs is no longer sending people e-mail offering
to "fix your credit risk free." Confronted by an increasing
number of individuals, businesses and Internet service
providers using software meant to identify and discard
unwanted junk e-mail commonly known as spam Ms. Sachs
has been forced to become more creative in her marketing
pitches. The subject line on her credit e-mail, for
example, now reads "get a fresh start." From a small
office on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, millions
of messages prepared on behalf of others by Ms. Sachs
and her partner are still going out to e-mail in-boxes
every day, promising not just to restore a poor credit
rating but also to sell printer ink, 3-D glasses and,
lately, even playing cards with pictures of wanted
Iraqi leaders.
(NY Times article, free registration required)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/22/technology/22SPAM.html
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Spam 2003: A progress report
The amount of spam grew in March and has almost
doubled from last year, threatening to cost businesses
$10 billion in 2003. The best tech minds are working
feverishly to help you perform one simple task--read
your e-mail.
http://zdnet.com.com/2251-1110-997654.html
Internet Is Losing Ground in Battle Against Spam
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/22/technology/22SPAM.html
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Office 2000 users hit by flaw
A security setting that keeps administrative
privileges safe is causing a registration-request
bug to surface in the latest Office 2000 update.
A software slip-up in Microsoft's latest update
to Office 2000 results in the application repeatedly
asking some customers to register the program.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2133703,00.html
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/software/apps/story/0,10801,80580,00.html
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Windows 2003 leaves security gaps
Microsoft will launch Windows Server 2003 Thursday,
offering improved security and faster file and web
server performance compared with Windows 2000,
according to tests carried out by vnunet.com's
sister title, IT Week. But Microsoft's security-
by-default strategy and new advanced features
will demand tough policy decisions.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1140361
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DOD buys Pentagon system protection
The Department of Defense has awarded EDS a two-
year, $258 million contract to upgrade the Pentagon's
information technology infrastructure under the Command
Communications Survivability Program. The contract's
intent is to ensure the Pentagon's IT infrastructure
can withstand an attack. The CCSP also addresses the
redundancy and recoverability of data. The upgrade
covers networks, data storage, and voice and
messaging systems.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0421/web-eds-04-22-03.asp
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/recovery/story/0,10801,80575,00.html
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Too great a risk to take
Last week the Cape High Court stopped a small clothing
company from making a T-shirt that displays social comment
on black labour exploits during apartheid. The judge
said that it "bordered on hate speech". Next month the
Constitutional Court will hear an application to have
the ban on the possession of child pornography partially
lifted. Both cases deal with one of the human rights
in the constitution that evokes the most public
emotion - the right to freedom of expression.
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=134712
What does child porn do to children?
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=134731
Can child porn 'research' be legal?
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=134699
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Fears over public ID system to access Govt services online
Resistance is brewing over steps to provide
a public ID system to access Government services
online. The State Services Commission is preparing
a report due mid-year on the subject. It has stated
its considerations do not involve a national ID card
and will work on an "opt-in" basis.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3450452&
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Anti-Virus Defence In Depth
Lately it seems I can't open my inbox with out
seeing a new article on defence in depth. This
is fine: defence in depth is crucial to anti-virus
protection. Unfortunately, most of the articles
are missing two crucial components. To understand
what is being missed, we need to look at what
is meant by defence in depth as it applies in
the malicious software world. For the purpose
of this paper, when referring to defence in
depth, we will be specifically talking about
the utilization of anti-virus software, and
other methods to provide a multi-layered anti-
malware defence in a corporate
environment.
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1687
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Flushing out spyware on your PC
How to detect programs that track your Web moves
Your employer may not want you surfing the Net
just because it means youre not working. You
may be dragging along your path all kinds of
crud, programs downloaded onto your computers
which spy on what youre doing, cluttering up
your hard drive, even taking over your Web
settings.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/903765.asp
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Big Brother comes to Scotland
Grampian police try facial recognition technology
Grampian police have become the first force north
of the border to try facial recognition technology
to identify suspects, but privacy campaigners have
condemned the move as a waste of time.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1140321
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New Jersey to Make Driver's Licenses Harder to Counterfeit
New Jersey driver's licenses, known as the easiest
outside Alaska to counterfeit, will be replaced
starting in late July with a digital model that
state officials say will be among the most tamper-
proof anywhere. Gov. James E. McGreevey announced
plans for the new design today, promising that
the phase-in could be handled at the notoriously
slow offices of the Division of Motor Vehicles.
The state has hired a contractor to produce the
licenses with equipment at the offices, which
will add employees and offer express lanes for
people who have completed a preliminary
registration online.
(NY Times article, free registration required)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/22/nyregion/22LICE.htm
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Net phone services get 911 capability
Users of Internet-based telephone services can finally
call 911. Vonage DigitalVoice, the biggest provider
of voice over Internet Protocol service, will formally
announce this week that it is enabling customers to
connect to the 911 emergency system, becoming the
first such provider to offer the capability. "You're
seeing the first few steps into the future," Executive
Vice President Lou Holder said on Tuesday. The company
began offering customers the capability during the last
few weeks but has yet to officially tout the move.
http://news.com.com/2100-1037-997851.html
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