NewsBits for October 27, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Online job offers dupe seekers A local man fell victim to an international credit card scam that Postal Inspector Barry Mew calls a national nightmare. A fraudulent company that has been scamming people for more than a year apparently used the Internet and stole credit card numbers to con a local man, among others, into working for them. http://texascitysun.com/story.lasso?wcd=3956 - - - - - - - - - - Email scammers target Halifax, Nationwide, Citibank Scam emails trying to con customers of Halifax, Nationwide and Citibank into handing over sensitive account information circulated widely over the Internet this weekend. The emails, posing as a security check from the banks involved, take the same form as other 'phishing' which targeted NatWest bank customers last Friday. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33598.html Halifax suspends e-banking site after phishing attack http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/33602.html - - - - - - - - - - New 419-like scam may originate from Russia A criminal element from Russia may be responsible for the recent spate of spoof e-mails that have attempted to con online-banking customers into revealing their account details. The scam is reminiscent of the infamous "419" scam emails, where the scammer offers large sums of money in exchange for assistance with transferring funds out of Nigeria or other countries, but experts believe that the new frauds originate from Russia. http://zdnet.com.com/2110-1105_2-5097405.html - - - - - - - - - - Hoover man gets highest sentence for child porn A Hoover man received a sentence of 12 years seven months last week for possessing, transporting and receiving child pornography. U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr. gave Aaron Burrage, 40, the maximum term allowed under federal guidelines. U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said Burrage distributed and received child pornography from Lee Schuch of Arkansas. Burrage repeatedly sought pornography involving a 5-year-old child through the Internet from Schuch. http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/106716375261910.xml - - - - - - - - - - Teacher faces sex charges A Whitby teacher is facing charges after a 14-year- old girl told police she became sexually involved with a man she met through an Internet chat room. Police say the Pickering teen told police she met the man on a chat room just before her 13th birthday more than a year ago. Last Thursday, a man arranged to meet Oshawa police, and he was arrested and later released. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1067209807793&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845 - - - - - - - - - - Man sentenced to prison for child porn A Gloversville man who admitted to downloading child pornography was sentenced to five years in prison. Daniel Venerosa, 59, pleaded guilty in May to an indictment charging him with possession of child pornography. The U.S. Attorney's Office for New York's Northern District said some of the images featured minors engaged in sexual acts and some of the children were less than 12 years old. http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=45185&SecID=33 - - - - - - - - - - Pediatrician arrested with kiddie porn Thousands of sexually explicit photos of children as young as 8 were discovered on computers belonging to a Chicago pediatrician, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Dr. H. Marc Watzman, 37, also had drugs commonly used to induce unconsciousness and lack of muscular control as well as Viagra in his car and apartment when he was arrested, federal prosecutors said. He has been held in federal custody since his arrest Saturday after federal agents searched his Chicago apartment. http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/102703_ap_ns_kiddieporn.html http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,101351,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Judge orders spammers to pay $2 million fine A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge Friday ordered two Los Angeles-area spammers to pay $2 million, the largest judgment to date won by government prosecutors against senders of unsolicited e-mail. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7101397.htm http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39117396,00.htm http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/22563.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-10-24-calif-spam-ruling_x.htm http://computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,86523,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Sober worm causes headaches A new virus threat called Sober could be causing a few headaches today, according to antivirus researchers. The Sober worm, spotted in the last 12 hours, is a traditional attachment-based piece of malware that uses social engineering to trick people into activating its payload. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1145981 - - - - - - - - - - Managers seek Trojans Hacker case raises concerns about hidden programs. A teenager was this month acquitted of causing a denial-of-service attack, after he argued that his computer was hijacked. The verdict has raised concerns that firms could find their own computers are vulnerable to such interference. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1145875 - - - - - - - - - - Hackers preying on patching headache This is the second part of our interview with two UK hackers dryice and frixion who were implicated in testimony during a recent trial over a denial of service attack on one of the largest ports in the US. Here they reveal how businesses are still leaving themselves woefully exposed to even the most inexperienced script kiddies. http://www.silicon.com/software/security/0,39024655,39116604,00.htm Hacker chatroom secrets exposed http://www.silicon.com/0,39024729,39116592,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Brazil Becomes a Cybercrime Lab With a told-you-so grin, Marcos Flavio Assuncao reads out four digits - an Internet banking password - that he has just intercepted as a reporter communicates via laptop with a bank's supposedly secure Web site. "It wouldn't matter if you were on the other side of the world in Malaysia," said Mr. Assuncao, a confident 22-year-old. "I could still steal your password." (NY Times article, free registration required) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/technology/27hack.html - - - - - - - - - - Cybercriminals will be wrapped in cotton wool Development of information technologies and entry of Ukraine into the international information space requires adequate legal regulation and protection of interests of citizens, society and government in information sphere. This problem gets a special urgency in view of growth in cybercrime and using information technologies by terrorist groupings. A monitoring telecommunications is a requirement of time. The State Committee on Communication of Ukraine and Organized Crime and Corruption Committee recommended the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine to pass a bill "About Monitoring Telecommunications". http://www.crime-research.org/eng/news/2003/10/Mess2501.html - - - - - - - - - - No effect seen in hack disclosure law Consultants are using it in pitches, lawyers are lecturing on it, and in Washington, it's been used as a model for proposed federal legislation. But nearly four months after it took affect, California's unique security breach disclosure law has yet to see any enforcement action. "Our office is not aware of any, nor are we aware of any DA or local offices or private parties bringing them," says Hallye Jordan, a spokesperson for California attorney general Bill Lockyer. "It may be that there have not been any security breaches that the consumers have not been informed about." http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7311 - - - - - - - - - - Tech ignorance, vague laws lead to mistaken conviction Computer administrator Bret McDanel discovered a security flaw in his company's software. He warned his managers. They ignored his pleas. So he quit and fired off thousands of e-mails alerting customers to the problem. The vulnerability at Tornado Development finally got fixed. But McDanel was charged and convicted of causing damage under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2003-10-25-vague-laws_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Post Office Wants to ID the Mail Sending a letter may soon require more than a 37- cent stamp. It might also require a valid photo ID. A small change in labeling requirements for bulk mailings announced Oct. 21 requires bulk mailers to identify themselves on the outside of the envelope with a valid address. This marks the first step in the Postal Service's desire to create "intelligent mail." http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,60966,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Police list info-sharing suggestions Pointing to inadequacies in the intelligence process that, in part, failed to prevent the 2001 terrorist attacks, law enforcement officials recently unveiled a national roadmap to help state, tribal and local agencies get a lot better at sharing information. http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2003/1027/web-iacp-10-27-03.asp - - - - - - - - - - Police cruisers go high-tech Voice recognition, smart software transform cop cars. A police officer sees a bank robbery suspect speed by and says pursuit. Automatically, the cruisers blue lights, siren, flashing headlights and video camera turn on. The car also sends a message to dispatch giving the location and saying the officer is chasing someone. http://www.msnbc.com/news/984469.asp http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/10/27/futuristic.cruiser.ap/index.html http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-10-27-cool-cruisers_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Keeping tabs on teens Cell phones are no longer the only electronic leash parents have to keep tabs on their teens. In Los Gatos, San Jose and communities across the nation, parents are going online at work and at home to track everything from their children's homework grades to their number of tardies. Logging onto school databases anytime and anywhere allows parents to pick up on potential problems a lot quicker: like the son they dropped off on campus in the morning never making it to class. Or the daughter who says she's doing fine in science actually scoring F's on her last several assignments. http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/living/education/7113847.htm *********************************************************** 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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