NewsBits for February 13, 2004 sponsored by, Southeast Cybercrime Institute - www.cybercrime.kennesaw.edu ************************************************************ Guilty plea in international $10M cable piracy scheme A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in what authorities called an international cable piracy scheme that netted more than $10 million. Carlo Mireles, 29, admitted helping sell 50,000 descramblers designed to illegally obtain free cable services. He pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts, one of mail fraud, and four of assisting in the unlawful interception of cable communications. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-02-12-cable-piracy-case_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Forces Reunited 'hacker' questioned by police A man has been questioned by police over a bid to hack into a military equivalent of the popular Friends Reunited website. Officers from Wiltshire Police executed a warrant at a property in Chorley, Lancashire, yesterday morning in connection with an investigation into an attack on the Forces Reunited site. A 29-year-old man, who was arrested at the address, has since been bailed pending further inquiries. http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_865955.html - - - - - - - - - - Soldier Accused of Trying to Aid al-Qaida A National Guardsman tried to reach al-Qaida operatives through the Internet, offering the group information on U.S. military capabilities and weaponry, defense officials said. Spc. Ryan G. Anderson, 26, was arrested Thursday,just days before he was to leave for duty in Iraq. He is a tank crew member from the National Guard's 81st Armor Brigade and converted to Islam during the last five years, officials said. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7946347.htm - - - - - - - - - - Longtime S.J. school bus driver faces porn charge A longtime San Jose school bus driver was arrested on a child pornography charge Thursday after Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies received a tip that he had allegedly bought thousands-of-dollars worth of illegal material featuring underage girls from a Florida company that has been shut down. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7945102.htm - - - - - - - - - - Internet pioneer charged under RIP Act The founder of Demon Internet denies intercepting emails sent by Redbus chairman John Porter Cliff Stanford, one of Britain's Internet pioneers, has been charged under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act 2000 with conspiracy to blackmail and the illegal interception of communications. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39146196,00.htm http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/35561.html - - - - - - - - - - State agency warns of security breach Some California workers may have had their salaries and other personal information compromised after someone gained unauthorized access to a state agency's computer. The California Employment Development Department has begun warning some current and former household workers that their information may have been accessed by an intruder, CNET News.com has learned. The agency sent a letter, dated Feb. 11, notifying people of the breach and offering information about how to reduce the risk of identity theft. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5158936.html - - - - - - - - - - Virus alert! 'I Love U' Lovebirds beware! Don't be fooled by messages of love that come via e-mail this Valentine's Day. If experts are to be believed, some of the most deadly Internet viruses over the last couple of years have used the promise of love on Valentine's Day to wreak havoc in computer networks across the world. And this year won't be any different, warn experts. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/494867.cms - - - - - - - - - - Worm turns on Japanese Windows A new variant of the Nachi worm has emerged that is apparently sending a political message to computers running Japanese versions of Windows. Nachi.B, discovered on Wednesday, has attacked only a small number of computers so far and is less troublesome than its predecessor. But unlike the earlier Nachi worm, which took down computer networks, this version seems politically motivated, security experts said on Thursday. http://www.silicon.com/software/security/0,39024655,39118388,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Canadian record companies seek names in piracy battle Canada's recording industry has launched a legal hunt for at least 29 consumers it says illicitly share music files over the Web, but it must first win an opening skirmish against Internet service providers who are refusing to hand over customer information. http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040213.gtshawm13/BNStory/Technology/ - - - - - - - - - - Budget cuts curtail NIST cybersecurity work, other programs The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will have to curtail its work on cybersecurity, terminate all its work with a law designed to improve the elections process and go to month-to-month funding for manufacturing programs because of its $22 million budget cut in fiscal 2004, according to the agency's acting chief of staff. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0204/021304tdpm1.htm - - - - - - - - - - Big I.T. Guns Collaborate on Security For end-users, the joint effort means improved security accuracy. It will eliminate the need for customers to purchase services that bridge the network and system, says Chris O'Connor, director of security strategy at IBM. http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Big_I_T__Guns_Collaborate_on_Security&story_id=23117 http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,90202,00.html - - - - - - - - - - 200 days to fix a broken Windows Security researchers are both criticizing and empathizing with Microsoft for the 200 days the company needed to create its latest critical software patch. The six-plus months is the longest the software giant has taken to release a fix since it started its Trustworthy Computing initiative, a companywide mandate to make security a top priority. http://news.com.com/2100-1002_3-5158625.html Microsoft code exposure not a crisisyet http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/24944-1.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39237-2004Feb13.html http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4253584/ http://www.vnunet.com/News/1152750 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=The_Big_Leak__Windows_Code_on_Net&story_id=23116 Stolen Windows code not critical weakness http://www.vnunet.com/News/1152755 - - - - - - - - - - Software allows game copying Software maker 321 Studios, whose products for copying DVD movies have drawn controversy and lawsuits, released a new application Thursday for copying PC games. Game X Copy allows PC gamers to create a backup of any title and store it either on the PC's hard drive or recordable CD or DVD, according to the company. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5158492.html - - - - - - - - - - Wireless Honeypot Trickery Wireless technologies have spread quickly in recent years and are now widely deployed in corporate environments as well as at home. The human dependency on those technologies has increased to the point where one can find wireless devices almost everywhere, from network devices to laptops, cameras, and so on. http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1761 - - - - - - - - - - Iris scanning to begin at German airport A test of an iris-scanning system is set to begin Saturday at the Frankfurt, Germany, airport, as part of a project involving 18 European countries. Airline passengers will be required to stand in front of an identification device whose cameras will automatically capture images of their iris patterns, companies participating in the trial said Friday. http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-5158973.html - - - - - - - - - - CIA looks online for WMDs The CIA has turned to the Internet in its search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and has posted an advert for information leading to the discovery of such weapons. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39146199,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - 'Help! I married a Net porn star' An unnamed 30 year-old Greek man got a bit more of an eyeful that he bargained for when he was checking out an exhibitionist porn site. While happily surfing vids of couples getting it on, he happened upon one of his wife getting jiggy with another man. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/35566.html *********************************************************** Computer Forensics Training - Online. 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