NewsBits for February 11, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ WIU student charged with theft, fraud A Galesburg woman was arrested on felony charges over the weekend for allegedly using her computer to defraud a man in Turkey out of $2,400 and transfer the money to her student account at Western Illinois University. Tabitha Lynn Cooper, 22, was charged with theft over $300, a Class 3 felony, and computer fraud, a Class 4 felony, during an initial court appearance Monday in McDonough County Circuit Court. http://www.pjstar.com/news/topnews/b24saa0d033.html - - - - - - - - - - Marine pleads guilty _to federal sex charges A Marine sergeant has pleaded guilty to federal sex charges after being arrested in an Internet sting operation at a Johnson City motel where he had gone to meet a 12-year-old girl for sex. John Molendyk, 27, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to traveling across state lines to have sex with a minor and transporting child pornography across state lines. http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_2645362,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Riverside cop arrested in connection to child porn ring A Riverside city police officer was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of traveling to Wisconsin to have sex with minors as part of a pornography ring. According to the FBI, Adam James Brown, 31, a police officer in the Riverside Police Department since 1998, was charged with traveling with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile Monday. "He traveled to Beaver Dam to engage in sex with children provided by (William) Martin," said Monica Schipley, an FBI spokeswoman. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/02/11/news/californian/2_10_0423_06_49.txt - - - - - - - - - - Man arrested in Internet sex sting A New Hampshire man was arrested yesterday after he drove to Connecticut to meet a 13-year-old girl who he believed had promised to become his sex slave, prosecutors said. Bradley Sweeney, 45, of Nashua, allegedly asked the teen to run away with him. He was actually talking to an FBI agent trolling the Web for child predators. http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/state2004/021004_sex_sting_2004.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Man jailed in Internet sex case Federal agents arrested a Florida man who traveled to South Jersey planning to have sex with a 13-year-old Hainesport girl he met on the Internet, authorities said Monday. Dennis P. DelPriore, 41, of Daytona Beach, had a stun gun, sex toys, Viagra and several bottles of alcohol when he was arrested at a Mount Laurel hotel Friday night, a federal prosecutor said. DelPriore was under surveillance by investigators throughout his trip to this area, officials said. They said he followed the girl's school bus on Friday afternoon and later talked to her by phone in the presence of undercover agents. http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m021004c.htm - - - - - - - - - - Councillor's porn shame DESPITE using his credit card to register and download child pornography former councillor David Smith today insisted they got there by mistake. FBI investigators in America discovered Felixstowe councillor David Smith was viewing child porn on the internet. Smith - who today resigned as a Conservative councillor and has "withdrawn from public life" - downloaded the pornographic images onto his home computer. He has been formally cautioned by police and will have to sign the sex offenders' register. http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/Content/news/story.asp?datetime=10+Feb+2004+17%3A46&tbrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=News&category=News&brand=ESTOnline&itemid=IPED10+Feb+2004+08%3A47%3A31%3A793 - - - - - - - - - - Primary School Teacher Jailed Gary Clement's collection of child porn shocked the detectives that had to look through them, nearly 14,000 images, including acts of sadism, bestiality and rape. 33-year-old Clement, from London, UK, was a primary school teacher during the 5 years he collected the material over the internet. "You of all people must have realised the making of such images has a serious and long- lasting effect on those involved," Judge Derek Inman told Clement. Clement was given a two year jail term, and must register as a sex offender for 10 years. http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=36348&u_id=56352&CFID=22194&CFTOKEN=32028994 - - - - - - - - - - Children lured into live internet sex shows CHILDREN are being sold for sex on the internet and then rated out of 10 by paedophiles, a shocking new report has warned. Some youngsters have been sold by relatives and friends who advertise them online with indecent photographs taken in their own homes. Pre-pubescent boys and girls are also being lured into taking part in live sex shows screened on the web which dozens of perverts pay to watch. In a report published yesterday, children's charity Barnardo's also warned new GPRS and 3G mobile phone technology could lead to many more children being abused through the internet. http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/Full_Story/did-sgAp2GH7XshyA.asp - - - - - - - - - - Officer slams consent laws A senior Toronto police sex crimes investigator says Canada's age of consent law is "alluring" to predators from all over the world. At a news conference yesterday to announce two arrests, Detective Sergeant Paul Gillespie said he wants the age of consent - which allows children as young as 14 to have sex if they agree to it - raised to 16. "People are coming to Canada because they know they can have sex with 14-year-old girls," Gillespie said. "A 32-year-old Toronto man faces charges of Internet luring, invitation to sexual touching, as well as distribution and possession of child pornography. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1076368216978&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845 - - - - - - - - - - Local 4 Defenders Expose Online Child Predators They came to the Defenders' door by way of the computer. Now, parents want to slam the computer door and keep predators out. But can it be done? Defenders cameras roll as grown men looking to have sex with 13- and 14-year old girls show up at our front door. But instead of finding the children they thought they were chatting with online, these men find the Defenders with cameras rolling. http://www.clickondetroit.com/defenders/2838322/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - FBI agents online trying to catch predators On Monday, the FBI arrested a man accused of trolling for young girls. This is just one example. The agency opened its doors to News Channel 8. Watch the story with News Channel 8's Tricia Taskey This is a sensitive operation. It is the only FBI sex sting operation in New England. In the 6-months it's been fully operational, 3-would-be sex offenders have been nabbed. http://www.wtnh.com/global/story.asp?s=1639156 - - - - - - - - - - EBay Scam Uses IPods as Bait A search for "iPod" on eBay yields a couple thousand listings for the digital music player and accessories, but beware: Hundreds of the listings are inducements to join pyramid-style scams. Ebay is swamped with new "matrix" schemes, which appear to be legitimate buyers clubs but are in fact variations on classic pyramid scams, which are outlawed around the world. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,62226,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Army tank confiscated in online auction German police seized a 10-ton armored personnel carrier that two men had put up for auction online, authorities said on Tuesday. "The men bought the tank from the Greek army and brought it to Germany. They were evidently looking to turn a profit," said a police spokesman in the state of Hesse. http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/02/11/offbeat.germany.tank.reut/index.html - - - - - - - - - - MS releases double-plus critical security fix Microsoft's monthly patch train got back on track yesterday with the release of a fix for a potentially devastating security vulnerability involving a core component of Windows. The buffer overrun bug with Microsoft's Abstract Syntax Notation 1 (ASN.1) library could be exploited to seize control of vulnerable systems. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/35480.html http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24923-1.html http://www.vnunet.com/News/1152694 EEye: More Microsoft bugs on the way http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39146115,00.htm Experts: Don't panic over Windows flaw http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5157089.html Another day, another Doom: New variants are spreading http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24927-1.html Doomjuice.B Gets Nasty with Microsoft http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Doomjuice_B_Gets_Nasty_with_Microsoft&story_id=23173 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/56/35501.html Piggyback virus strikes http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8653881%255E8362,00.html - - - - - - - - - - 419ers get God, distribute millions, then do lunch Blimey, it's quite a life being an advance fee fraudster. One minute you're dying of cancer, then you've recovered sufficently to run a lottery, and no sooner have you distributed millions to lucky winners, then it's time for a swift lunch with the president of Nigeria. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/35490.html - - - - - - - - - - Security chief urges partnering A Homeland Security Department official said this morning that the government's record of fostering public/private partnerships for securing cyberspace has been unacceptable. http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0209/web-yoran-02-11-04.asp Congress and Cybersecurity http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/04/sp_technews_putnam021204.htm Privacy is in the House http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,62243,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Feds step up push to wiretap VoIP calls The Bush administration plans to ask the Federal Communications Commission to order Net telephony providers to comply with a law that would permit police to wiretap conversations carried over the Internet. In a series of letters made public Tuesday, the Justice Department said it is "currently drafting a request" that would invoke the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5157282.html - - - - - - - - - - Energy Department IG urges tighter security at labs Energy Department Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman has recommended that the departments national laboratories tighten security over classified projects, including advanced computer research, in the wake of an audit that found gaps in the labs security controls. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24925-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Software Bug Contributed to Blackout A previously-unknown software flaw in a widely- deployed General Electric energy management system contributed to the devastating scope of the August 14th northeastern U.S. blackout, industry officials revealed this week. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/8016 - - - - - - - - - - Antispyware vendors come under fire Some antispyware companies are using deceptive practices and "hijacked" Web browsers to scare Net consumers into buying their products, a leading Internet public interest group told federal regulators on Wednesday. In a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) said software developer Mail Wiper and its marketing affiliate Seismic Entertainment Productions have misled consumers in promotions for antispyware software. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5157358.html http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4243032/ - - - - - - - - - - Spam seen as security risk Spam is definitely annoying, but corporate customers also see it as a potential security risk, according to a survey released Wednesday. The study, commissioned by security software maker Network Associates, surveyed 356 small to large organizations in North America. Questions focused on the effects of unwanted e-mail in the corporate environment. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-5157275.html - - - - - - - - - - Sony Ericsson advises users to turn off Bluetooth Sony Ericsson has joined Nokia in admitting that its Bluetooth phones could be vulnerable to a 'snarfing' attack, meaning that a hacker can access data even if the phone is not paired with another Bluetooth device. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39146123,00.htm http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,90131,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Adware ploy dupes IMers with bin Laden 'news' Several victims told CNET News.com on Wednesday that a new Trojan horse advertising program, called BuddyLinks, masquerades as a news Web site with a story on the al-Qaida leader's capture in an attempt to fool users of America Online's instant-messaging program into downloading software and receiving advertising. http://news.com.com/2100-7349_3-5157632.html - - - - - - - - - - Programmer creates mask for file-sharers Wyatt Wasicek was so outraged by the recording industry's legal assault on users of free music- downloading sites that he decided to ride to the rescue. He created a program called AnonX that masks the Internet address of people who use file-sharing programs such as Kazaa. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/7927993.htm - - - - - - - - - - Online victims 'need help centre' A children's charity says more needs to be done to help children who've had nasty experiences on the net. Barnardo's wants the government to establish a centre staffed by people who are trained to deal with the problems caused by modern technology. They would be able to help kids with a variety of issues - from being misled in chatrooms to child abuse. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sci_tech/newsid_3475000/3475887.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1144570,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Visual History: Are Digital Images Secure? Remembering the digital age may not be so easy. Photos are becoming a series of electronic impulses captured for a moment on cards or discs. And there is no certainty that digital images will survive for future generations. http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/story/32829.html - - - - - - - - - - The past is present in the present password The cardinal rule of password creation is skirting the obvious: No names of children or pets, no street addresses or car names. The ideal password is a random combination of letters and numbers, unfathomable to a potential intruder. http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040211.gtfacts09/BNStory/Technology/ - - - - - - - - - - Is it wrong to steal wireless bandwidth? IN LAST SUNDAY'S edition, a reader wrote to say she'd "accidentally discovered that the wireless Internet card in my laptop lets me access the Web in my apartment" via what is a neighbor's Wi-Fi connection. She went on to say she only used it to "check e-mail, which will not affect my neighbor's usage." She then asks whether what she's doing is wrong and whether she should offer to pay part of the monthly connect fee. http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/AnchorDesk/4520-7296_16-5121168.html - - - - - - - - - - Cyberappliances attack Italian village The small village of Canneto di Caronia in Sicily has become the front line in the war of annihilation between humanity and Terminator-style roboappliances. For three weeks terrified residents have battled for their very survival against spontaneously-combusting TVs, fridges and cookers which have damaged twelve houses and provoked a full-scale evacuation of the hamlet. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/35500.html - - - - - - - - - - Dakota County posts jail information on Web site The Dakota County sheriff has posted to the Web the names, mug shots and partial booking information of everyone in his county jail in an initiative that could be first of its kind in Minnesota. Sheriff Don Gudmundson said he decided to start the site after reading about a similar effort in Washington state. He expects other sheriffs will start similar sites. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-02-10-online-inmates_x.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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