NewsBits for August 22, 2005 ************************************************************ The new Trojan war Defense Department finds its networks under attack from China. In mythology, the Greeks found an innovative way to avoid Troy's defenses. By offering the gift of a huge horse hollowed out and filled with soldiers the Greeks were able to bypass Troy's defenses and attack from the inside. Today the Pentagon faces a similar situation. http://www.fcw.com/article90262-08-22-05-Print Online intruder gains access to Air Force personnel records http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=32041 http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/hacking/story/0,10801,104080,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Men Charged With Changing College Grades For Cash, Sex University Employees, Students Charged In Alleged Grade-Changing Racket. Two former Florida Memorial University employees and five students are charged in a grade-changing racket that involves cash payments, computer hacking and even sexual favors. http://www.local10.com/news/4868830/detail.html - - - - - - - - - - Teacher Charged with Possessing and Transporting CP A former instructor at Orangeview Junior High School in Anaheim faces up to 30 years in prison after being charged with possessing and transporting child pornography. Michael Timothy Arnold, 44, appeared in federal court here yesterday and was ordered held without bond by U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Game Jr. Arnold, who worked in the math department at Orangeview Junior High School prior to his arrest, was named in a two-count indictment handed down Friday. http://communitydispatch.com/artman/publish/article_1702.shtml - - - - - - - - - - Slain woman's husband arrested for child porn The husband of Jone Knapton, the East Moline woman who was murdered and dismembered two years ago, is in police custody after being arrested on child pornography charges. Larry Knapton, 50, is scheduled to appear Monday in Cass County District Court in Atlantic, Iowa, to face extradition to Illinois. Knapton, a jewelry dealer who local police say has moved several times since his wife's murder, was arrested Wednesday in Anita, Iowa, by Cass County deputies. http://www.qctimes.net/articles/2005/08/20/news/local/doc4306c04a7a677186408917.txt - - - - - - - - - - UK government moves against hardcore online porn The UK government is to move against the availability of violent pornography online, the Home Office has announced. Following a meeting between Home Secretary Charles Clarke and the mother of Jane Longhurst, a special needs teacher murdered by a man who regularly accessed hard-core pornography on the internet, the department has announced a crackdown on websites that depict rape, http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=9697 - - - - - - - - - - Anti-porn spam laws to shield kids backfire Laws in two states to shield children from objectionable e-mail are having a chilling effect on nearly everyone but the spammers they were intended for. The laws in Michigan and Utah create e-mail registries to prevent children from viewing adult-oriented messages. But the laws, both barely a month old, threaten to disrupt businesses nationwide, marketers and legal experts say. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2005-08-21-email-children_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - US loses another round in WTO gambling case The World Trade Organisation has given short shrift to US foot dragging on opening up its gambling industry to international online competition. The states has been given until the end of next March to bring itself into line with an earlier WTO ruling that the US should stop blocking US gamblers and banks from using services based in Antigua and Barbuda, the small Caribbean country which brought the original action. While Antigua and Barbuda had originally called for the US laws to be changed within six months of the original ruling back in April, the US had demanded 15 months. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/22/wto_gambling_update/ Hackers rob online gamers http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2141357/hackers-rob-online-gamers - - - - - - - - - - 'E-Mail Wiretapping' Prosecutions Could Increase in the Future A federal appeals court ruling in Boston last week on e-mail wiretapping is reverberating throughout the Internet communityand legal worldwith a consensus emerging that there may be prosecutions in the future for what today is considered normal business practice by ISPs. The First Circuit Court of Appeals, voting 5-2, ruled that an e-mail service provider that supposedly read e-mail, intended for customers only, could indeed be tried on federal criminal charges. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1850388,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Weapons gained in fight against online sexual predators According to the U.S. Justice Department, more incidents of online child pornography and child sexual exploitation are being identified for investigation than ever before. In fact, the department said, sexual predators preying on children is "one of the most significant cyber crime problems confronting the FBI." http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050822/OPINION01/508220310/1014 - - - - - - - - - - Unit tackles rising child porn cases Dallas: Protection advocates, officers join forces at Crimes Against Children Conference. Michelle Collins spends her days matching names and places to the young faces in graphic sexual images seized in police raids across the country. Her office has one of the biggest collections of child pornography in the U.S., where the most urgent work is hunting for clues that could lead rescuers to underage victims. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/082205dnmetchildcrime.7fce941.html - - - - - - - - - - The Zotob worm blame game While it doesn't take much to get pro- and anti-Microsoft camps throwing online jabs at one another, the friction was only fueled this week by a worm attacking the Windows 2000 operating system. Malicious attackers began circulating variants of Zotob and other viruses shortly after Microsoft's regular monthly patch release, which included a fix for the problem. http://news.com.com/2061-11199_3-5841112.html Hackers Beating Efforts to Patch Software Flaws http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/holes/story/0,10801,104092,00.html?SKC=security-104092 Microsoft Works To Patch New IE Flaw http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=11300002JQAA 'Killbit' Workaround for Zero-Day IE Flaw Available http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1850357,00.asp Hacker underground erupts in virtual turf wars http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2005-08-21-hacker-wars_x.htm - - - - - - - - - - Brits happy to ditch civil liberties Three out of four Brits would happily hand over their civil liberties in exchange for better security against terrorist attacks, according figures from pollsters ICM. It is interesting to note that this is the same general public that rails against any attempts to make them drive more slowly, or with more care. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/22/civil_libs_ditch/ - - - - - - - - - - Hotel hacking could pump smut into every room Hotel hybrid broadband internet and TV-on- demand entertainment systems are open to attack, security researchers warn. Penetration testing firm SecureTest has identified a number of vulnerabilities in the implementation of hotel broadband systems delivered using Cisco's LRE (long-reach Ethernet) technology. Using a laptop connected to a hotel network, SecureTest found it was possible to control the TV streams sent to each room or gain access to other users laptops. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/22/hotel_hacking_reloaded/ - - - - - - - - - - Training Needed to Halt 'Spear-Phishing' Attacks Little technology available to combat targeted e-mail scams, say experts. So-called spear- phishing attackscustomized spoof e-mails that appear to come from trusted sources and ask recipients to part with confidential information pose a dangerous and emerging threat to organizations. There are no mature technical solutions to the problem, so IT must emphasize education, security experts said during a telephone briefing on the topic last week. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,104087,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Adobe's Compromising Documents, Tainted CPAINT News Analysis: The big noise of the last week was the Zotob (and its variants) outbreak for Windows folk, along with the IE/MSDDS.DLL zero day exploit. But there was much more going on that may have slipped under the radar last week. Adobe announced that the core application plug-in for Acrobat and Acrobat Reader had this teensy, tiny, small problem in that if a "specially crafted" PDF file is read, arbitrary code could be executed due to a buffer overflow caused by an unspecified boundary error. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1850743,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Questions surround smartphone security Wireless vendors are rolling out a new generation of handheld computers called smartphones for corporate users, but many network executives say they won't consider them until the means to manage and secure them are clear. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/082205-smartphone.html - - - - - - - - - - EarthLink nabs Aluria's anti-spyware EarthLink has agreed to acquire the assets of anti-spyware maker Aluria Software. The technology will be part of a new security suite due out soon. The purchase is expected to close in September, subject to certain unspecified conditions, EarthLink said in a statement on Monday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Aluria assets will become part of a new EarthLink division, the Atlanta-based Internet service provider said. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5841387.html - - - - - - - - - - Google bypasses browser to search PC drives, Web Google Inc. is unveiling a computer and Web search tool today using self-updating navigation and personal information software that puts it in more direct competition with Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and America Online Inc. The creator of the world's most popular Web search system said it is branching out beyond pure search to help users manage e-mail, instant messages, news headlines and music. http://computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,104103,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Intellectual Property Is Focus at New Job Our security manager starts a new position with a mandate to keep company IP from walking out the door. I recently resigned my position after four years to become security manager for a hardware maker. I typically change jobs every few years, for a couple of reasons. The first is to be exposed to different types of technologies, business models and cultures. To be effective in the information security field, it's important to broaden your horizons, much as consultants who work on short-term projects do. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,104011,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Viruses: The New Weapon of Choice for Workplace Violence Offenders During the dot-com heyday, an employee downloading a virus onto a company's network was almost always assumed to be acting unaware of any danger. However, in today's era of increased outsourcing, corporate downsizing, salary reductions and failed pension- plan promises, company networks are increasingly being attacked by disgruntled employees. In this hostile environment, searching for the source of sabotage should start inside. http://computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,103995,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Alleged spammer lived fast, then feds moved in Christopher Smith's neighbors didn't know exactly what he did for a living. But they knew well that he liked to collect expensive cars and set off fireworks at all hours. At an age when most of his peers could barely afford a new car, Smith was amassing a collection that would include BMWs, Hummers, a Ferrari, a Jaguar and a Lamborghini. And when other 20-somethings were trying to save for down payments on modest starter homes, Smith paid $1.1 million for a house in a more affluent suburb. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9041549/ - - - - - - - - - - GSA issues RFI for database to share terrorism information The General Services Administration is asking industry to provide a governmentwide, searchable database of information, organizations, services and personnel related to each agencys mission in the war on terrorism. GSA released a request for information earlier this month and will hold an industry day Aug. 25 in Washington to describe their needs for electronic directory services. Responses to the RFI are due Sept. 7. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36746-1.html - - - - - - - - - - DHS contracts for fingerprint scanners from Identix Identix has won a contract worth more than $2 million from the Homeland Security Department to provide fingerprint scanning technology, the company has announced. Under the contract Identix of Minnetonka, Minn., will provide the department with the companys TouchPrint 3000 series live scan systems. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36750-1.html *********************************************************** 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. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however copies may not be sold, and NewsBits (www.newsbits.net) should be cited as the source of the information. Copyright 2000-2005, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.