NewsBits for October 17, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ British teen cleared in attack on Houston port site A teenage computer expert was acquitted Friday of hacking a system that provides navigational data for the port of Houston. A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London accepted 19-year-old Aaron Caffrey's contention that unidentified vandals had installed an attack script on his computer, which he then unknowingly set into motion. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7039807.htm http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7242 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3197446.stm http://www.msnbc.com/news/981726.asp http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-10-17-hack-acquittal_x.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33451.html http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/hacking/story/0,10801,86186,00.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39117209,00.htm http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5092745.html Caffrey acquittal a setback for cybercrime prosecutions http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33460.html - - - - - - - - - - Feds admit error in hacking conviction Federal prosecutors asked a San Francisco appeals court this week to reverse a computer-crime conviction that punished a California man for notifying a company's customers of a flaw in the company's e-mail service. Filed on Tuesday in San Francisco's Ninth District Court of Appeals, the unusual request conceded that federal prosecutors in Los Angeles erred in bringing a criminal case against, and obtaining the conviction of, 30-year-old Bret McDanel. The one-time system administrator has already served his 16-month sentence and is currently on supervised release, during which time his access to computers is curtailed. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5092697.html - - - - - - - - - - Former policeman walks free over child porn images A FORMER policeman who was caught with more than 5,000 child porn images while he was a serving officer walked free from court yesterday. Alexander McArthur, 30, admitted possessing child porn last month after police found 5,613 indecent photographs of children and 148 indecent video images featuring youngsters on two laptop computers in his flat in Aberdeen's King Street. Sheriff Alexander Jessop, who deferred sentence on McArthur at Aberdeen Sheriff Court so that he could view some of the images, sentenced him to three years' probation and to attend an 18-month sex offenders' rehabilitation programme. http://www.news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1146142003 - - - - - - - - - - Student jailed for child porn A 26-year-old Melbourne computer student was jailed today after detectives discovered 10,000 child porn images on his computer, some of children as young as three. At the Broadmeadows Magistrate Court, Steven Douglas Burke was jailed for 18 months, with 16 months of the term suspended for two years after pleading guilty to three child pornography counts. http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,7587529%255E1702,00.html - - - - - - - - - - High-tech unit makes arrest in sex case Investigators from the Attorney General's office lead Ufuoma Onosakponome to a car to take him to Parish Prison on Thursday. Onosakponome is accused of arranging to meet someone posing as a 14-year-old girl at a Baton Rouge hotel for sex. Escorting Onosakponome are, from left, Mike Johnson and Casey Howard. A man expecting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl whom he met online instead found himself Thursday morning face-to-face with a burly investigator from the state Attorney General's Office. http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/101703/new_perp001.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Alleged Internet porn traffickers indicted Three men indicted for trafficking child pornography on the Internet are the first to be arrested in an investigation that could lead to charges against hundreds of people across the country, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The arrests resulted from the use of the latest techniques and technology to track down suspected child pornographers online, said U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-10-17-netporn-arrests_x.htm http://fox40.trb.com/news/ktxl-101603childporn,0,2676367.story http://www.adn.com/24hour/nation/story/1030162p-7228906c.html - - - - - - - - - - FBI: Kiddie porn sent from library A registered sex offender was arrested Thursday for allegedly sending sadomasochistic child pornography over the Internet from public-access computers at Charlotte County libraries. Richard Edward Brillhart, 23, of 21874 Haines Ave. in Port Charlotte was secretly videotaped by an FBI agent Oct. 10 at the Murdock Public Library as he looked at "images of prepubescent children engaged in sex acts" and read a "fantasy story." http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/031017pornguy.html - - - - - - - - - - Virus blamed for BigPond delays The Swen virus has been blamed for delaying emails to BigPond customers by up to several days. On Tuesday, BigPond reported its customers were receiving emails late due to a rapid rise in messages being sent and received through the network. Email messages had increased on average from about eight million to 13 million daily. Spokeswoman Kerrina Lawrence today said the Swen virus was responsible for the sudden surge in traffic. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/17/1065917586464.html - - - - - - - - - - Record industry warns of new lawsuits The Recording Industry Association of America has begun preparing a second round of file-swapping lawsuits, notifying 204 individuals that they are in line to be sued for copyright infringement. Unlike with the previous wave of suits, the record labels' trade association is giving the lawsuit targets warning this time around, offering them a chance to settle before the suits are filed. The change in tactics comes after considerable criticism from federal lawmakers and others concerning the group's first batch of court actions against 261 individuals last month. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5093078.html http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/17/technology/riaa.reut/index.htm http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,60880,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Green Card lottery scam sites thrive Millions of hopeful applicants around the world are once again getting ready for the annual American Dream lottery for a Green Card. Last year, Internet scams marred the process, tricking thousands of hopefuls into paying $50 or more to enter the lottery, which is free. This year, the U.S. State Department will be running its own lottery Web site, but even as the Federal Trade Commission cracks down on Internet immigration scams, theres still concerns about fee-based sites confusing or cheating Green Card seekers. http://www.msnbc.com/news/980291.asp - - - - - - - - - - FBI director warns of threats to U.S. economy FBI Director Robert Mueller on Thursday said the U.S. economy is threatened by terrorism, corporate crime, Internet attacks and organized crime. It is no longer possible to separate our country's economic well-being from national security, Mr. Mueller told a luncheon crowd at the Detroit Economic Club. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031017.wusecon1017/BNStory/International/ USA: cybercrime grows by leaps and bounds http://www.crime-research.org/eng/news/2003/10/Mess1801.html - - - - - - - - - - Finns may track youths on cell phones Finland has proposed a new law that would let parents track the movements of their young children via mobile phone, even without their consent, in a move that could set an European Union benchmark in privacy and handset use. Finland's parliament will likely start discussing the proposal early in November. http://news.com.com/2110-1039-5092915.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/981663.asp http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/10/17/sprj.ws.track.teens.phone.reut/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Giuliani Partners, E&Y team up to stop hackers Former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani's consulting firm and accounting firm Ernst & Young joined forces yesterday to help companies guard against computer hackers. They unveiled their so-called Advance Security Centres in Ernst & Young's offices in New York's Times Square and in Houston, where staff members with military and corporate security backgrounds will toil away on computers to protect clients. http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/computing/2003/0310170740.asp http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/17/news/companies/giuliani_ey.reut/index.htm - - - - - - - - - - Qualcomm Licenses Citrix For Secure Application Access Qualcomm has licensed Citrix Systems' infrastructure software for enabling employees to securely access applications over any network connection. http://www.internetweek.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml%3Bjsessionid=DPG1IICFJXEM0QSNDBGCKHY?articleID=15306226 - - - - - - - - - - 'Infranet'- Juniper's promise of a secure net Juniper Networks Inc. unveiled a sweeping blueprint for a future communications grid that would be as global as the Internet but with the security of private networks run by many companies to protect trade secrets and secure transactions. http://www.ciol.com/content/news/2003/103101709.asp - - - - - - - - - - MSN Premium to add McAfee anti-virus, firewall tools The software giant said Friday that it sealed a deal with intrusion prevention provider Network Associates Inc. to include the company's McAfee VirusScan and Personal Firewall Plus products with the MSN Premium service due out later this year. http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/10/17/HNmsnpremium_1.html - - - - - - - - - - BindView - Forget "Cyber Terrorism", Beware the Real Threats BindView's Mark Loveless, who often goes by the handle "Simple Nomad", will tell the BindView Insight User Conference 2003: "Buying into the hype around security threats like Cyber-terrorism causes organizations to be distracted from the real risks." http://www.cbronline.com/todaysnews/18b08ca20d34e04980256dc20018bc53 - - - - - - - - - - Survey: Windows Developers Say Linux More Secure Is Linux built more securely than Windows? According to a new survey, Windows and Linux developers both say yesand for the first time, ranked it ahead of Windows XP. The September 2003 study from market-research firm Evans Data Corp. surveyed more than 500 North American participants, including VARs, ISVs, OEMs and corporate developers, according to Esther Schindler, senior analyst with Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Evans. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1344466,00.asp?kc=EWRSS02129TX1K0000531 Fresh ideas may bolster security (series of articles) http://zdnet.com.com/2251-1110-5093163.html - - - - - - - - - - Smile, youre on surveillance camera Brits take intrusive security measures into their own hands. On Oct. 9, a pipe bomb exploded under a traffic-monitoring camera in North Belfast. An act of terrorism? More than likely, it was just another average British citizen furious about the ubiquitous surveillance that has sprung up in Britain over the last decade. http://www.msnbc.com/news/981718.asp - - - - - - - - - - Feds Want All-Seeing Eye in Sky Spooks, suits, generals and geeks gathered here this week to discuss a common goal: an all-seeing, omnipresent set of eyes in the sky to keep an unblinking view of the entire world at once. Representatives from the military, spy agencies and the defense industry met to find ways to put a new generation of spy satellites in orbit to aid in war, homeland security and spy craft. But talking about Big Brother vision in a hotel ballroom is proving to be a whole lot easier than executing it in orbit. Several of the satellite systems are wrapped in controversy, cost overruns or long delays. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60855,00.html *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. 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