NewsBits for December 17, 2003 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ NASA sites hacked, Zone-H says Thirteen NASA Web sites were defaced this morning by a Brazilian crew dubbed drwxr, according to a statement from Zone-H, an organization that monitors hacking. Zone-H said the defacer apparently modified the index pages on the sites to express his opinion about the war, leaving the message "The war in iraq, kill is a play!" and linking to a CNN video showing U.S. soldiers killing an Iraqi and cheering. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,88348,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Man to face 20 years in sex assault A Luxemburg man charged in the sexual assault of a 14-year-old Little Chute girl he met over the Internet entered no contest pleas Tuesday to two felony charges. Karl J. Rose, 29, entered the pleas to charges of second- degree sexual assault and using a computer to entice a child for sex. He could face 20 years in prison in connection with the incident that occurred in August. Outagamie County Circuit Judge Harold Froehlich scheduled Rose's sentencing for Jan. 29. http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_13732419.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Police crack down on flea market vendors they say sold pirated CDs St. Louis County police said Tuesday they seized thousands of pirated CDs and DVDs from a Pagedale flea market Saturday and arrested three vendors. Sgt. Rick Battelle said the vendors first received hand-delivered letters from the Recording Industry Association of America in June telling them they needed to stop illegal activity. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/music/2003-12-17-stl-pirates_x.htm Record industry to target uploaders http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031217.gtcria17/BNStory/Technology/ - - - - - - - - - - Police crack down on mobile phone thefts Mobile phone thieves are to be targeted in nation- wide scheme to crack down on street crime.Police have the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) to target thieves and dealers who ship high-value phones overseas. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/68/34560.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/12/17/sprj.ws.britain.phones.reut/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Net users warned on calling scam Australian dial-up internet users have been warned of an international scam fleecing web surfers of thousands of dollars in call charges. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) issued a warning on internet dumping, a practice that disconnects internet users from their local service provider and reconnects them to an overseas provider at a much higher rate. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/17/1071337010135.html - - - - - - - - - - Online job scammers steal millions Catherine, a recruiting specialist, was out of work for nearly a year when a friend sent her a job opening listed at Vault.com. Ready to try almost anything, she quickly responded to the ad and e-mailed her resume, applying for a position as "correspondence manager." http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3730401/ - - - - - - - - - - Immigrant advocates sue Justice over crime database Civil rights and immigrant advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in New York to challenge a post-Sept. 11 initiative by the Justice Department to enlist state and local police in the routine enforcement of federal immigration laws. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1203/121703sz2.htm - - - - - - - - - - Commission agrees US access to EU citizen personal data The European Commission has struck a deal with the US Department of Homeland Security allowing the handing over of data on EU citizens travelling to the US by airlines. The US currently requires access to airlines' Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, while EU privacy law forbids its transfer to the US. After some amendments which the Commission describes as concessions, however, the US' proposed treatment of this data has been deemed sufficient to rate an "adequacy" finding, and thus passes muster in the Commission's view. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34563.html Agencies' efforts to protect personal information vary widely http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1203/121703a1.htm - - - - - - - - - - Criminal Business in Cyber Space Statistics and analyzes of computer crime show a high probability of this crime can exceed drug traffic, trade in arms and rare animals on the money turnover, profitableness and number of people employed in this criminal area. Earlier these three kinds of crime were the first due to their profitability. http://www.crime-research.org/news/2003/12/Mess1705.html - - - - - - - - - - Cyber threats risk net's future The hunger in poor nations for going online is not without danger. With improved access, comes the threat of ever more internet security violations. Security was one of the many issues discussed in Geneva. As delegates at last week's UN net summit in Geneva focused on how information technology can be used to improve the lives of the poor, others highlighted the issue of safe surfing. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3322449.stm Online Financial Crime Headed From Bad to Worse http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5934-2003Dec16.html - - - - - - - - - - Un-Canning Spam Warning! E-mail inboxes are about to get flooded with even more spam, and experts are saying computer users can thank Congress and President Bush for enacting a weak federal anti-spam law. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7936-2003Dec17.html Can Spam law: Series of stories http://zdnet.com.com/html/z/tu/sr/canspam.html - - - - - - - - - - Con Job at Diebold Subsidiary At least five convicted felons secured management positions at a manufacturer of electronic voting machines, according to critics demanding more stringent background checks for people responsible for voting machine software. Voter advocate Bev Harris alleged Tuesday that managers of a subsidiary of Diebold Inc., one of the country's largest voting equipment vendors, included a cocaine trafficker, a man who conducted fraudulent stock transactions and a programmer jailed for falsifying computer records. http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61640,00.html - - - - - - - - - - RFID: Smart Tags, High Costs A little over a year ago, when Henkel Consumer Adhesives Inc. needed to replace its warehouse management system, the company chose a forward- thinking vendor that was planning to use radio frequency identification, or RFID, which was then, as now, being touted as the "next great thing" in supply chain automation. http://computerworld.com/softwaretopics/erp/story/0,10801,88130,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Bluetooth security 'crisis' looming Security experts have warned of the need to take care as new Bluetooth devices with a transmission range of up to 100 metres arrive. Security consultant @stake believes that devices conforming to the latest Bluetooth standard represent a potential crisis similar to the introduction of wireless local area networks based on the 802.11b Wi-Fi standard. http://www.vnunet.com/News/1151614 - - - - - - - - - - Windows-style security hell stalks Mac OS X? Yeah, you wish... Since Apple released Mac OS X, even the PC industry trade publications have raved about its quality, design, and features. PC Magazine even gave Mac OS X "Panther" a 5-star rating in October 2003. Perhaps it was because Macs could now seamlessly fit into the Windows-dominated marketplace and satisfy Mac users refusing to relinquish their trusty systems and corporate IT staffs wanting to cut down on tech support calls. Whatever the reason, Mac OS X has proven itself as a worthy operating system for both consumers and business alike. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/34554.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. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however copies may not be sold, and NewsBits (www.newsbits.net) should be cited as the source of the information. 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