NewsBits for May 5, 2004
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12 arrested for laundering phished funds
Brief: Twelve people from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Russia and the Ukraine have been arrested on suspicion
of money laundering funds procured through phishing
attacks. The National High-tech Crime Unit (NHTCU)
arrested six men and six women, with help from the
National Crime Squad, the FBI and the US Secret
Service.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39153687,00.htm
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154938
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/phishing_mules_arrested/
US hit by 92m phishing attacks in one year
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39153695,00.htm
Fear of phishing hits e-commerce
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/phishing_fears_survey/
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Sasser Worm Rips Through Internet
The rapidly evolving "Sasser" computer worm tore
across the Internet on Tuesday, claiming new victims
among corporate and home computer users as others
scrambled to fortify their machines against attack.
First detected over the weekend, the worm has already
infected, by some estimates, more than 1 million PCs
running on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows 2000, NT and XP
operating systems.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4890780/
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-rup5.5may05,1,4131003.story
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25838-1.html
http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,63325,00.html
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_title=Sasser_Fizzles_Out_as_Search_for_Culprits_Heats_Up&story_id=23942
Patches Could Have Lessened Latest Worm
Far fewer computers would have been disabled by
the latest Internet worm had their owners configured
them to automatically get the latest security fixes.
Sasser's spread began to stabilize Tuesday, but not
after infecting hundreds of thousands of computers
since Friday by exploiting a known Windows flaw for
which Microsoft Corp. issued a software patch three
weeks ago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1828-2004May4.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2004-05-05-patch-chiding_x.htm
Microsoft: Almost 1.5M download Sasser cleanup tool
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/virus/story/0,10801,92912,00.html
Speed Limits Could Slow Viruses
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_050504.asp
Hunt on for Sasser worm culprit
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/05/05/sasser.worm.reut/index.html
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/virus/story/0,10801,92923,00.html
Sasser creates European pandemonium
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/sasser_continental_europe/
Chinese government is bracing for attack by Sasser worm
http://www.iht.com/articles/518438.html
Home users bear brunt of new virus
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_944796.html
Home users learn virus lessons
Home computer users were better prepared for the
Sasser worm outbreak than businesses, according
to anti-virus company Sophos. Sasser is an internet
worm and does not need to be opened in an email
to infect computers.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154930
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Cyber-crime fight may need new laws
Unclear legislation and a lack of resources may be
holding back the fight against cyber-crime, according
to experts. The All Party Internet Group is holding
an inquiry into the 14-year-old Computer Misuse Act
(CMA), to feed into a Home Officereview of the
legislation.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154917
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Doctors seeing surge in addicts supplied via Internet
Drug addicts looking for their next fix are finding
it more easily these days with the simple click of
a computer mouse. Drug addiction specialists say
they are seeing a surge of patients over the past
several months who have gotten controlled
substances over the Internet without prescriptions.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8596146.htm
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Student hacks iTunes for compatibility
According to the Australian researcher who cracked
the authentication used by Apple's iTunes software,
current-generation Digital Rights Management (DRM)
will never work. David Hammerton, a 20-year-old
Arts-Science student, reverse-engineered iTunes'
authentication measures last week, allowing non-
iTunes clients to connect to Apple's servers. It
was the second time he had managed to crack the
authentication, however this time it took him
just eight hours to break the brand-new iTunes
4.5, which had been patched against his previous
research.
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/8561
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Viruses target IM
When it comes to viruses and worms, e-mail gets
all the attention, but now that instant messaging
has infiltrated both home and office, it too has
become an attractive and easy target for virus
writers. From 2002 to 2003, worms and viruses
that spreadvia IM and peer-to-peer networks
increased 400%, according to Symantec Corp.'s
Internet Security Threat Report. Already this
year, we've seen the Jitux.A and Bizex worms
targeting MSN Messenger and ICQ, respectively.
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,92913,00.html
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Gates Promises Longhorn Beta In 2005 Despite Security Concerns
Microsoft has recommitted to releasing Longhorn,
its next-generation Windows client and server,
into beta testing in 2005 even though its chairman
acknowledged that security concerns threaten his
dream of enabling seamless connectivity and Web
services.
http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.asp?ArticleID=49935
Security breaches drive customers away
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39153693,00.htm
WinHEC: Microsoft looks ahead
http://zdnet.com.com/2251-1110-5206298.htmls
http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-5206677.html
Microsoft to sign anti-spam agreement
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39153420,00.htm
http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/05/technology/msft_spam.reut/index.htm
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Officials trade arguments over electronic voting
Will system overhauls close security gaps or cause
chaos? Scientists told a federal panel Wednesday
that electronic voting isnt completely reliable
and suggested that a backup paper system might
be the only way to avoid another disputed
presidential election in November.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4907477/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/05/05/electronicvoting.ap/index.html
E-Voting: 1 County Sues State
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-machines5may05,1,1569551.story
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CIO jury: Compliance no IT project Trojan horse
silicon.com's latest CIO Jury of 12 individuals
hasreturned eight answers of 'No' and four of 'Yes'
to the question Have compliance projects (addressing
Sarbanes-Oxley, Basle II, IAS and so on) allowed you
to roll out additional technology, including that
for which it would have been hard to get separate
sign-off?
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5206341.html
Worms part of IT diet
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5206111.html
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The new nasties
Each week vnunet.com asks a different expert to
give their views on recent virus and security issues,
with advice, warnings and information on the latest
threats. This week Luis Corrons, head of PandaLabs,
warns of the added workload that IT departments
face from new forms of malware.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1154939
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What is hacking?
Hacking is unauthorized use of computer and network
resources. (The term "hacker" originally meant
a very gifted programmer. In recent years though,
with easier access to multiple systems, it now has
negative implications.) Hacking is a felony in the
United States and most other countries. When it
is done by request and under a contract between
an ethical hacker and an organization, it's OK.
The key difference is that the ethical hacker
has authorization to probe the target.
http://www.crime-research.org/news/05.05.2004/241
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Internet shop 'til you drop -- but stay cautious
On the Internet, car shoppers can gather information
available from dealers but without the pressure of
eyeball-to-eyeball negotiations. But Web browsers
should beware. The same basic rule that applied
pre-Internet is still valid: Don't assume one
source of information has all the right answers.
(LA Times article, free registration required)
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-hy-web5may05,1,7675782.story
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419ers crack cold fusion
Since they already have a man in space, it should
come as no surprise that our old mates from Lagos
have pulled off an even more impressive feat -
cold fusion. Well, it was actually the brilliant
Nigerian physicist Koffi Abacha, who sadly died
in the obligatory mysterious plane crash. However,
his work looks promising, and for just $10,000
you can buy yourself into the energy revolution.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/419_cold_fusion/
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