NewsBits for December 2, 2004 ************************************************************ BitTorrent servers under attack Unknown attackers have downed file-sharing networks based on a common peer-to-peer technology, according to the administrator of LokiTorrent, one of the networks affected. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5473754.html - - - - - - - - - - Senior Republican charged in phone jamming plot A former Bush campaign official has been charged with plotting to jam the phone networks of political opponents during the November 2002 election. James Tobin, 44, of Bangor, Maine, the former regional director of the Republican National Committee in New England, faces charges of conspiracy to commit telephone harassment and aiding and abetting telephone harassment. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/10050 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5473524.html - - - - - - - - - - Antispam screensaver downs two sites in China Lycos Europe's "Make love not spam" campaign has killed access to some of the Web sites of its target alleged spammers, Netcraft has found. According to the Internet traffic monitoring company, Lycos Europe has successfully taken two Web sites hosted in China offline. The sites are bokwhdok.com and printmediaprofits.biz, according to a posting on Netcraft's Web site, dated this week. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5474963.html http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39175684,00.htm Lycos army shoots itself in foot? http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39175786,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Microsoft sues seven sex spammers Microsoft today began an anti-spam blitz by filing seven lawsuits against hackers who allegedly used PCs infected with Trojans to send sexually explicit spam email that violated the Can-Spam US anti-spam law. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159819 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/02/ms_cans_spammers/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/02/francis_mccrae_in_court/ http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5474585.html - - - - - - - - - - IT security sheriffs to police the web The government today unveiled plans for UK IT security special constables to police the web. The proposals came from Eurim, the parliamentary working group that examines the use of IT in society. Among its recommendations are the creation of a plain English guide to security that could be distributed to all computer users, better risk assessment by companies and government, and the possible deputisation of people within the IT industry under the Special Constables scheme. http://www.vnunet.com/news/1159800 - - - - - - - - - - MS quashes infamous Bofra bug Microsoft broke with its normal patching schedule yesterday to issue a fix for the notorious IFRAME vulnerability in Internet Explorer. Windows XP SP2 users were immune to the vulnerability, which was exploited by the Bofra worm. Surfers using Mozilla Firefox and Opera browsers were not affected. But users of older versions of IE were left in the firing line from 2 November, when the vulnerability was discovered, until Microsofts cumulative patch yesterday. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/02/ie_iframe_fix/ Older Windows OSes need critical patch http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/28021-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Phishers lie in wait for Google searchers Phishers are setting up fraudulent e-commerce Web sites and simply waiting for victims using Google and other search engines to find them, a security company has warned. Traditionally, phishing scammers have lured their victims to fraudulent Web sites by sending official-looking e-mails that are ostensibly from well-known companies asking users to 'verify' their user names and passwords. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5473663.html Phishing costs 'overestimated' http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39175678,00.htm - - - - - - - - - - Former cybersecurity czar: Code-checking tools needed Software vendors need automated tools that look for bugs in their code, but it may be a decade before many of those tools are mature and widely used, said the former director of cybersecurity for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,97988,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/02/us_homeland_security_czar_resigns/ DHS needs to find its niche in IT security, former cybersecurity director says http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/28024-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Study: Managers misuse tech to control workers Managers with outdated notions about controlling workers are misusing technology to monitor and micromanage employees, according to a new study. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/privacy/story/0,10801,97989,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Conversations in Security Security is hard work, exclaimed Bruce Schneier, CTO and founder of Counterpane at the recent CSI-Asia Conference &Exhibition 2004. Weve gathered in these pages the CSI-Asia speakers views on the technology roadmaps, security trends in the coming months, and their thoughts on secure processes. http://www.ncasia.com/ViewArt.cfm?Magid=3&Artid=25644&Catid=5&subcat=50 - - - - - - - - - - Closed Source Hardware Trust is an important part of security. When it comes to trusting hardware vendors, it seems that this road is all too often a one way street. http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/281 - - - - - - - - - - They've Got Your Number It's a beautiful afternoon in Shepherd's Bush, a bustling neighborhood on the outskirts of London, and Adam Laurie is feeling peckish. Heading out of the office, he's about to pick up more than a sandwich. As he walks, he'll be probing every cell phone that comes within range of a hidden antenna he has connected to the laptop in his bag. We stroll past a park near the Tube station, then wander into a supermarket. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/phreakers.html - - - - - - - - - - All terror attacks use false passports, claims Interpol chief The 'terrorists use false ID' claim achieved a significant escalation yesterday as Interpol general secretary Ron Noble told a House of Lords Committee that all terrorist incidents involve a false passport. The UK Home Office has clearly been thinking small when it trots out the 'fact' that 35 per cent of terrorists use false IDs in support of its ID card scheme. But surely Noble over-eggs the pudding, just ever so slightly? http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/02/noble_wows_lords/ - - - - - - - - - - Missouri pulls video games from prison Missouri's most violent criminals can no longer play video games that simulate murders, carjackings and the killing of police officers, a decision reached after prison officials were told about the content. "We didn't closely review these," Dave Dormire, superintendent of the Jefferson City Correctional Center, told The Kansas City Star. "We were told these games had more like cartoon violence." http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-12-02-mizzou-prison-games_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Baltimore expands use of surveillance cameras The city's network of 24-hour surveillance cameras monitoring the Inner Harbor will be expanded to cover three high-crime areas and the Canton waterfront, officials said Wednesday. The cameras are part of a regional homeland security initiative announced in June. They eventually will be part of a surveillance network spanning five counties and stretching from the Inner Harbor to the Bay Bridge. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2004-12-02-baltimore-spycams_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Bust-hungry Oz beach perv busted An Australian man who was captured on a beach by an enraged mob after snapping topless women on his mobile has become the first man to be prosecuted in New South Wales for the offence. Peter Mackenzie, 25, admitted offensive behaviour in a public place and was duly fined A$500 by Waverley Local Court, Australian IT reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/02/beach_perv_busted/ *********************************************************** 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. 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