NewsBits for July 29, 2005
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FBI holds eight on piracy charge
US police say $100m worth of illegal material was
removed from the net. The US authorities have charged
eight people in connection with the illegal trading
of copyrighted films, music, games and software over
the net. The Justice Department said they were key
members of online piracy networks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4727919.stm
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UK man sentenced
A recent court case, which saw a West London man
fined PS500 and sentenced to 12 months' conditional
discharge for hijacking a wireless broadband
connection, has repercussions for almost every
user of wi-fi networks. It is believed to be
the first case of its kind in the UK, but with
an estimated one million wi-fi users around
the country, it is unlikely to be the last.
http://www.crime-research.org/news/29.07.2005/1393/
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Norwalk man gets 10 years in prison for child porn
A nurse practitioner from Norwalk has been sentenced
to 10 years in federal prison for possessing child
pornography. Michael Simpson, 52, was given the
maximum term when he was sentenced Thursday in
U.S. District Court. He had admitted collecting
600 images of child pornography.
http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=3656672
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Child porn: the doctor admits his guilt
A former trainee neurosurgeon at the Monash Medical
Centre has received a suspended jail sentence after
admitting having more than 1400 images of child
pornography. Abraham Stephanopoulos, 33, of Armadale,
was charged last September after the images were
found on a hospital computer and one at his home.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/doctor-pleads-guilty-over-child-porn/2005/07/26/1122143849486.html
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Worm poses as pirated 'Grand Theft Auto'
A worm that targets gamers is making the rounds,
tapping into popular titles and peer-to-peer
file sharing, a security company has warned.
The worm, Hagbard.A, tries to disguise itself
on peer-to-peer networks as pirated downloads
of the popular games titles "Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas," "Need for Speed Underground 2"
and 400 other programs, Sophos said in an
advisory released on Friday.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5810979.html
Australia outlaws 'Grand Theft Auto'
Australian officials effectively banned the computer
game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" and ordered
it removed from stores Friday because it contains
hidden sex scenes that can be viewed with
a special Internet download.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8757077/
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Antipiracy flub for Microsoft
Microsoft's efforts to curtail counterfeiting hit
a snag when hackers discovered a new way to bypass
its Windows Genuine Advantage, only days after the
antipiracy software's official debut. The software
giant announced WGA 1.0 on Monday. WGA requires
users to verify that they have a legitimate copy
of the operating system before they can download
add-ons for Windows XP.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5810282.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8762986/
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Interior threatens whistle-blower
In the latest chapter of a dispute over protecting
Interior Department data from hackers, citizens
filed a motion last Tuesday asserting that top
Interior Department officials threatened to
transfer a government-employed witness if
she testified in support of the plaintiffs.
http://www.fcw.com/article89738-07-29-05-Web
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,68356,00.html
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Information sharing has a dark side
Although information sharing could prevent another
terrorist attack, it could also create a single
point of failure, a Homeland Security Department
official said. Speaking at the Excellence
in Government Conference in Washington, D.C.,
this week, Charles Armstrong, chief information
officer at DHSs Border and Transportation
Security Directorate, was asked whether
continuity across systems might allow
attackers to weaken multiple agencies
with one blow.
http://www.fcw.com/article89729-07-28-05-Web
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Google hacking: Everything you want someone to know, and more
The ability to type in a detailed query and perform
a focused search of Web resources has made Google
one of the most successful dot-com companies in
the world. But those tools also can be used to
reveal data never meant to see the light of day,
including credit card information, password lists,
vulnerable servers and other details of network
architecture.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36557-1.html
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Phishing attacks soar as viral onslaught wanes
The volume of phishing attacks on UK businesses
in July increased 45 per cent, according to
email security company BlackSpider Technologies.
BlackSpider detected more than 360,000 emails
carrying a phishing threat in July, compared
to just under 250,000 in June 2005.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/29/blackspider_malware_report/
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Survey: Average loss from cybercrime drops
Virus attacks are still the most costly. Although
the average financial loss due to cybercrime is
down, virus attacks continue to cost companies
the most money, according to the Computer
Security Institute (CSI) in San Francisco.
http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,103573,00.html
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Cyber crimes drop by half between 02-03
A total of 808 cyber crimes were registered under
the Information Technology (IT) Act and the Indian
Penal Code (IPC) in the year 2002, while the number
went down to almost half at 471 in 2003, according
to official sources.
http://www.siliconindia.com/shownewsdata.asp?newsno=28950
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Sophos bug highlights wider anti-virus flaws
Get breaking Security news straight to your desktop
- click here to find out how. Users of Sophoss anti-
virus products were warned this week of a potentially
serious security vulnerability. The bug - unearthed
by security researcher Alex Wheeler - involves an
unspecified heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability.
The cross-platform flaw applies to Sophos Anti-Virus
Small Business Edition and in version 3.x and 4.x of
its flagship Sophos Anti-Virus product.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/29/sophos_buffer_overflow_bug/
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Upset eBay buyer makes house call
"Police blotter" is a weekly report on the intersection
of technology and the law. This episode: an eBay
deal goes awry. What: Dispute over quality of
Pfaltzgraff Heritage tumblers that were purchased
on eBay. When: Arrest made September 2001, case
decided July 20, 2005. Outcome: After being
arrested on charges of stalking an eBay seller,
Jay Howard Rothhaupt sued. He largely (but not
entirely) lost before the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 6th Circuit.
http://news.com.com/Police+blotter+Upset+eBay+buyer+makes+house+call/2100-1028_3-5809277.html
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Digital Sleuths
An FBI computer forensics expert explains how
electronic evidence is being used to prosecute
murderers, drug traffickers and identity thieves.
Whether running a drug cartel, transmitting child
pornography, or stealing a stranger's identity,
many criminals have come to rely on computers.
And where there are computers, there is usually
a long trail of electronic evidence which can
be invaluable to investigators and prosecutors.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8726154/site/newsweek/
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Digital forensics moving from an art to a science
The Defense Cyber Crime Center is seeing a
growing demand for its forensics services, and
a growing demand for professionalism on the part
of its investigators. "Digital evidence is now
an established forensics profession," said Jim
Christy, director of the center's Cyber Crime
Institute. "We are going from winging it to being
certified practitioners." The center's forensics
lab now is undergoing a third-party certification
process, Christy said yesterday at the Black Hat
Briefings security conference.
http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36556-1.html
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Exposer of Cisco Flaws to Go Silent
A security expert settles the tech giant's suit
by turning over his findings on router weak spots.
Cisco Systems Inc. on Thursday won a legal battle
to silence a researcher who had publicly demonstrated
he could hijack machines that power much of the
Internet. Cisco sued Michael Lynn shortly after
he presented his findings Wednesday at the annual
Black Hat technological security convention in
Las Vegas.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-cisco29jul29,1,5486649.story
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8762987/
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2140510/cisco-iss-sue-security
Settlement reached in Cisco flaw dispute
http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11260
Hackers rally behind Cisco flaw finder
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5812044.html
More legal threats over Cisco flaws
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5811333.html
Cisco details controversial router flaw
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5810669.html
Black Hat Day 2: Peace Breaks Out
Michael Lynn, the security researcher whose talk
yesterday about new flaws in Cisco Systems routers
landed him in court this morning, has settled the
legal dispute with Cisco and his former employer,
Atlanta-based Internet Security Systems.
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/07/ciscogate_updat.html
Black Hat: Hunting bugs, finding holes
http://news.com.com/Black+Hat+Hunting+bugs%2C+finding+holes/2009-7348_3-5808386.html
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Geeks gather at 'What The Hack'
There are hundreds of tents on the hot and soggy
campground, but this isn't your ordinary summertime
outing, considering that it includes workshops with
such titles as "Politics of Psychedelic Research"
or "Fun and Mayhem with RFID."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/29/what.the.hack.ap/index.html
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2005-07-28-tech-conference_x.htm
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Is your printer spying on you?
Secret codes enbedded into pages printed by
some colour laser printers pose a risk to personal
privacy, according to the Electronic Frontier
Fundation. The US privacy group warns the approach
- ostensibly only designed to identify counterfeiters
- has become a tool for government surveillance,
unchecked by laws to prevent abuse.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/29/printer_spy_fears/
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PGP author demos VoIP encryption
Phil Zimmermann, the legendary author of Pretty
Good Privacy encryption for email, has demonstrated
new encryption software to secure voice over IP
connections. Zimmermann took the stage at the Black
Hat Briefings get-together for network security
professionals in Las Vegas to show his session-
based Zfone encryption tool.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2140537/zimmerman-demos-voip-encryption
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Computer crime: the most significant case
In October 2004 law enforcement held the most
significant operation. They tracked down and nabbed
The Shadow Crew group who reportedly equaled to
eBay by the efficiency of their criminal activity.
In a house without sign in downtown Washington,
Brian K. Nagel and 15 other Secret Service agents
manned a high-tech command center, poised for
the largest-ever round up of a cybercrime crew.
http://www.crime-research.org/articles/computer-crime-most-significant-case/
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Social insecurity: The number that can easily betray you
Recent disclosures of massive data leaks at
information brokers, banks and retailers have
prompted Congress to once again consider
tightening access to Social Security numbers,
which have evolved into dangerous master keys
for fraudsters. But Social Security numbers
already have come under a hodgepodge of
restrictions over the years, and many experts
question whether the new proposals would truly
hinder identity theft.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/12257384.htm
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