NewsBits for January 25, 2006 ************************************************************ ID theft again tops list of FTC complaints For the sixth year in a row, identity theft tops the annual list of consumer complaints collected by Federal Trade Commission. The list is strikingly similar to last year, with online auction fraud, sweepstakes, and advance-fee loans also in the top 10. But the number of consumers victimized via wire transfer has skyrocketed, tripling in the past two years, the FTC said. And child ID theft cases have nearly doubled in that span. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11010464/ ID theft tops list of fraud complaints http://news.com.com/ID+theft+tops+list+of+fraud+complaints/2100-1029_3-6031191.html - - - - - - - - - - Google's new Chinese search engine censors results Google launched a search engine in China on Wednesday that censors material about human rights, Tibet and other topics sensitive to Beijing defending the move as a trade- off granting Chinese greater access to other information. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2006-01-24-google-china_x.htm http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12100002YSQK http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2149163/google-bow-great-firewall-china http://www.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/01/24/google.china.ap/index.html Google co-founder defends China decision http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11024433/ - - - - - - - - - - Man Sentenced for Child Porn Trafficking The U.S. Attorney's Office says a man sentenced to nine years in prison for trafficking in child pornography dealt in material that showed the abuse of children "of every imaginable age." Randy Carl Swope of Rocky Point pleaded guilty in September to charges of transmitting and receiving child pornography over the Internet as well as to a related charge of transmitting obscene materials over the Internet. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=3843997 - - - - - - - - - - Lawsuit Targets Sale of Call Data Verizon Wireless says four websites used fraud to obtain cell records and then sold them. Verizon Wireless on Tuesday stepped up the cellphone industry's fight against the sale of personal call records, suing the purported operators of four websites offering the history of almost any number. The nation's second-largest cellular operator filed a federal lawsuit in New Jersey to prohibit the alleged data brokers from selling confidential customer records. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-locate25jan25,1,7834463.story - - - - - - - - - - Anti-scam website saved by MEP A Member of the European Parliament, Richard Corbett, has stepped in to save the anti-scam website www.stopecg.org - which was forced offline by legal threats to its service provider. Server Centre, and its upstream supplier RapidSwitch, decided to pull the website after a flurry of legal notices from Birmingham solicitors Wragge & Co. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/25/mep_saves_scam_website/ - - - - - - - - - - New bill to beef up e-crime law The government today introduced a new bill to parliament, designed to stiffen penalties against cyber criminals. The Home Office outlined details of the Police and Justice Bill to MPs, proposing that criminals who make unauthorised modifications to computers receive up to 10 years in prison. http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2149114/changes-computer-misues-act - - - - - - - - - - 'E-waste' law forces manufacturers to pick up tab A first-in-the-nation law went into effect Wednesday in Maine, requiring makers of televisions and computer monitors to pick up the tab to recycle and safely dispose of their products once they are discarded. Under the law, which mirrors the approach taken in Europe and Japan, manufacturers must shoulder the cost of sending electronics to recycling centers where toxic materials such as lead and mercury are removed. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/01/18/recycling.computers.ap/index.html - - - - - - - - - - Cyber-criminals adopting new strategies, experts say After a decade of untold havoc wrought by worms, viruses, Trojan horses and spam, something curious is going on in the Internet's netherworld: the volume of attacks is beginning to fall off. http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=CYBERCRIME-01-24-06 - - - - - - - - - - US cyber-crime damage pegged at $67bn FBI report paints a grim picture of online fraud Online crime in the US alone caused $67.2bn in damages last year, according to a survey conducted by the FBI. The findings were based on a poll of 2,066 organisations, nearly 90 per cent of which had experienced a computer security incident over the past 12 months. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2148960/cybercrime-damage-pegged-67bn - - - - - - - - - - Malware potency increases as numbers drop Global malware outbreaks decreased last year only to be replaced by smaller scale, stealthier attacks targeted at specific organisations or individuals, and designed to extract sensitive information. Financial gain has become the number one motive for hackers, according to IBM's latest Global Business Security Index. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/25/ibm_cybercrime_report_2005/ - - - - - - - - - - Fight against viruses, spam and phising Its getting so you cant stick your head out onto the Internet anymore without someone trying to sell you something, infect your computer with viruses or steal your identity. And several attacks developed to go after home users, such as phishing, are mutating to take aim at corporate offices and government agencies. http://www.gcn.com/25_2/lab_reviews/38024-1.html - - - - - - - - - - Cambridge professor warns of Skype botnet threat Academic builds demo system, tears it down again Voice-over-IP applications could be used to cloak networks of zombies, used to launch denial-of- service (DoS) attacks, a professor at the U.K.'s Cambridge University has warned. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/holes/story/0,10801,108039,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Cybercrime, user ignorance lead to Net activity limits Two studies reveal that users worry, but do they do enough? U.S. residents believe they are more likely to be victims of cybercrime than physical crime and that concern is leading them to be more cautious online and, in some cases, to limit Internet activities, according to a new survey. However, a second survey, conducted by a U.K. banking authority, indicates that users may regard online security as someone else's problem. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108035,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Google, tech companies back StopBadware.org coalition Group to list companies that stick computers with malicious software. Forget about the fight against spyware. Technology giants Google Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and Sun Microsystems Inc. are funding a nonprofit effort to combat "badware," a new term for all of the nasty spyware and viruses that users never want installed on their computers. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108032,00.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/25/stopbadware/ http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2006-01-25-spyware_x.htm http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6030750.html - - - - - - - - - - DHS IT security spanked again The Homeland Security Departments forlorn IT security came in for another pasting today from the departments inspector general and from Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/38088-1.html DHS vows to protect info on national database http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/1_1/daily_news/27812-1.html DHS helps DOJ with case management systems http://www.fcw.com/article92098-01-25-06-Web Survey: Worker training key to retaining IT employees http://computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/story/0,10801,108052,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Netscape 8.1 takes aim at spyware Netscape on Wednesday released its latest browser, version 8.1, which adds features designed to better protect Web surfers against online scams such as spyware and phishing. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6031200.html Washington state sues over spyware http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6031108.html - - - - - - - - - - NSA issues redacting guidelines Concealing classified information in digital government documents is not as easy as striking out text with a black marker. Todays digital documents make the task more complex, but the National Security Agency has now given agencies specific instructions. http://www.fcw.com/article92089-01-25-06-Web http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6030745.html NSA offers guidance to U.S. agencies on data-breach protection http://computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,108044,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Zero-day details underscore criticism of Oracle A security researcher released details of a critical flaw in Oracle's application and Web software on Wednesday, criticizing the company for not cooperating with the security community and taking too long to fix software issues that threaten its customers. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11371 - - - - - - - - - - Agencies need to improve, share money-laundering data The Treasury Department released the first governmentwide analysis of money laundering and terrorist financing weaknesses that criminals and terrorists exploit through a variety of techniques. What the analysis determined was that additional data needs to be collected in a more consistent way across agencies to help stem the flow of illicit funds. http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/38092-1.html - - - - - - - - - - DHS urged to finish analysis of visitor tracking system The Homeland Security Department has yet to complete a strategic plan and key cost-benefit analyses for the nation's visitor tracking system, despite having spent $1.4 billion on the effort, a Government Accountability Office official told lawmakers Wednesday. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33233 - - - - - - - - - - Start-up soups up surveillance cameras There was a good reason British authorities were able to identify the suspected London bombers last year more quickly than usual from surveillance tapes. They assigned scores of agents to review the video footage from all of the cameras, said Tim Ross, co-founder of San Francisco start-up 3VR Security. http://news.com.com/Start-up+soups+up+surveillance+cameras/2100-7355_3-6030085.html - - - - - - - - - - China attacks U.K. government using Windows security hole Attack attempted to exploit Windows Metafile vulnerability. Chinese hackers launched a major attack on the U.K. Parliament earlier this month, the governments e-mail filtering company, MessageLabs Ltd., has confirmed. The attack, which occurred on Jan. 2, attempted to exploit the Windows Metafile (WMF) vulnerability to hijack the PCs of more than 70 named individuals, including researchers, secretaries and members of Parliament (MP) themselves. http://computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108037,00.html - - - - - - - - - - Lawmakers seek details on administration's spying Pressure mounted on the Bush administration Wednesday to provide lawmakers with answers on domestic spying activities. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., released a three-page letter with detailed questions to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the president's decision in 2002 to secretly authorize domestic wiretaps without warrants. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33238 Attorney General addresses critics of warrantless wiretaps http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33231 *********************************************************** 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 2000-2006, NewsBits.net, Campbell, CA.