NewsBits for February 14, 2006 ************************************************************ 419er jailed for 376 years A Nigerian 419er was last Friday jailed for 376 years by a Lagos court for "stealing, forgery, impersonation and conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences" contrary to the Advance Fee Fraud Act, the Nigerian Daily Independent reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/14/419er_jailed/ - - - - - - - - - - Internet sex sting nets 24 predators Twenty-four men, including an Army lieutenant colonel and an West Islip firefighter, were arrested by Suffolk police for soliciting sex with minors on the Internet. In a month-long sting, detectives from the Computer Crimes Unit posed as 13-year old boys and girls on the Internet and set up dates with the men, agreeing to meet them at a private house the police department rented in central Suffolk. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lisex0215,0,363474.story - - - - - - - - - - Pervert filmed girls with hidden camera A pervert who videoed six teenage girls using hidden cameras has been jailed for six years. Steven Caddick, who also downloaded thousands of hard-core porn videos of children from the internet, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=331296 - - - - - - - - - - Child porn man sent to jail for 7 months A computer expert who used his IT skills to distribute child porn over the internet has been sent to prison for seven months. Andrew John McCreadie, 27, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years when he appeared at Calisle Crown Court yesterday. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=331300 - - - - - - - - - - Three charged with Seattle hospital botnet attack A federal grand jury has indicted a 20-year-old California man on charges that his botnet hijacked thousands of computers and crippled a hospital network, leaving intensive care systems paralysed and doctors' pagers useless, Associated Press reports. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/14/seattle_hospital_botnet/ - - - - - - - - - - NCsoft site deluged with stolen identities Hackers have used the private information of hundreds of people to register on the Web site of "Lineage," one of Korea's most popular online games. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5717/ncsoft_site_deluged_with_stolen_identities/ - - - - - - - - - - Company sues unknown computer hackers A North Carolina company with a Charleston office is suing unnamed hackers who they say broke into their computer system. WeSave Inc. filed the lawsuit Jan. 24 in Kanawha Circuit Court. WeSave, which has an office at 208 Capitol Street, operates discount and loyalty programs for public employees. http://www.wvrecord.com/news/newsview.asp?c=174679 http://www.it-observer.com/news/5716/company_sues_unknown_computer_hackers/ - - - - - - - - - - Yahoo makes plea over censorship Internet giant Yahoo says it is "deeply concerned" over government efforts to impose censorship. The firm has been pilloried over accusations it has provided information to the Chinese government that led to the jailing of two dissidents. Ahead of a US Congress hearing on Wednesday to discuss the issue, Yahoo said firms could promote openness. In a written statement that did not refer to China, it said it was committed to an unrestricted internet. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4711654.stm http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/14/yahoo_censorship_statement/ - - - - - - - - - - DHS Cyber-Security Head Reports Progress The federal government has made "tremendous progress" in improving its information-gathering and operational capabilities and is working hard to make the private sector a full partner in its security efforts, according to a senior administration security official. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1926381,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - McAfee out in a Cyber Storm Internet security firm McAfee has revealed that it participated in the US Department of Homeland Security's Cyber Storm Exercise. Cyber Storm was the federal government's first full scale test to assess its readiness and ability to respond to what it deemed 'a cyber incident of national significance.' http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=96697BD3-58CE-4ED5-9B6C-65225745DCE7 - - - - - - - - - - Does Mac Have Potential For Hacker Attacks? The Apple Macintosh enjoys a reputation as one of the more secure systems out there, but the recent discovery of vulnerabilities in two of Apples most popular applications serves as a reminder that no Internet user is immune to attacks. In January, four critical security vulnerabilities were discovered in the Apple QuickTime and iTunes applications, raising security concerns over the increasingly popular media player formats. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5720/does_mac_have_potential_hacker_attacks/ - - - - - - - - - - European Officials Reviewing Windows Vista Complaints The European Commission is looking into complaints about Microsoft's Vista, but no formal investigation has been launched. Officials with the European Commission have confirmed that they are examining complaints lodged by Microsoft's rivals against the company's Vista operating system, due to launch by the end of this year. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,124703,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - Windows Defender Beta 2 released Microsoft Corp. has posted a second beta version of Windows Defender, its free spyware-removal tool. The program is in a name-change transition: Windows Defender initially was called Windows AntiSpyware. The new version can be downloaded off its website. http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,108688,00.html FirePanel XP 2.0 http://www.it-observer.com/tools/16/firepanel_xp/ Microsoft promises Passport redux with InfoCards http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/14/gates_rsa_infocard/ - - - - - - - - - - Lavasoft Personal Firewall 1.0 Lavasoft Personal Firewall is targeted for small and medium-sized business organizations and home users, providing seamless and powerful protection for both. This firewall product comes with simple configuration, "tick in the box" options and powerful, easy to use controls. http://www.it-observer.com/tools/15/lavasoft_personal_firewall/ - - - - - - - - - - 3Com Quarantine Protection 3Com has announced the availability of its end point security solution, 3Com TippingPoint Quarantine Protection. Quarantine Protection is the fundamental building block of a complete end point security strategy for client protection and remediation, leveraging network infrastructure for the isolation of infected devices. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5715/3com_quarantine_protection/ http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1926401,00.asp - - - - - - - - - - RSA turns everyday gadgets into security tokens RSA Security is expected on Tuesday to announce a new user authentication method designed to replace traditional security tokens with cell phones, PDAs and other devices loaded with RSA's SecurID algorithm. Using the new method, RSA, working with partners including cell phone maker Motorola and storage consumer memory-device maker SanDisk, seeks to turn a variety of everyday devices into security tokens. http://news.com.com/2100-7355_3-6038897.html Spyrus USB 2.0 Personal Security Token Spyrus has announced the world's first USB 2.0 personal hardware security token that seamlessly integrates secure mass storage using Suite B cryptographic algorithms, high performance encryption and authentication services, and One Time Passwords. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5714/spyrus_usb_20_personal_security_token/ - - - - - - - - - - Spammers pick on IPO firm You have to feel sorry for FutureTech Capital, a California investment firm and IPO expert. In recent months, all of the publicly traded companies in FutureTech's portfolio have been "victims" of stock pump-and-dump spammers. http://www.it-observer.com/news/5721/spammers_pick_ipo_firm/ - - - - - - - - - - Sebek 3: tracking the attackers, part two In part one of this series, we discussed the current Sebek development and its integration with GenIII Honeynets. In this article, we take it a step further and focus on best practices to deploy Sebek inside a GenIII Honeynet, as well as the new Sebek "write" patch. http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1858 *********************************************************** 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. 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